The far-right politician turned his focus to capital punishment in a statement on Facebook.At an election event on Sunday, Lieberman took aim at Israel’s Arab minority, who make up 20 percent of its population of 8 million.

“Those who are against us, there’s nothing to be done - we need to pick up an axe and cut off his head,” he said, calling Israeli Arabs a “fifth column,” and drawing applause.

Lieberman, whose support has waned in recent months, has repeatedly questioned the community’s loyalty and proposed transferring some Arab towns in Israel to a future Palestinian state in return for Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Ahmed Tibi, an Arab legislator in the Israeli parliament, said in response to his remarks on beheading, that if Lieberman had his way, Israel would become like "Islamic State" in its brutality toward prisoners.

Polls predict Lieberman’s ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party will win only five or six seats in the 120-seat Knesset, down from 13 in the current parliament. His support base among immigrants from the former Soviet Union has waned as they integrate more into Israeli society and turn to other parties.