The foreign minister spoke at a conference for foreign diplomats, along with President Shimon Peres, who criticized the recent reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman responded to a Palestinian call for Israel to renew its settlement freeze by saying that Israel would do no such thing, “not even for three hours.”
The foreign minister, while speaking at the Presidential residence in Jerusalem to foreign diplomats and foreign consular employees said “there will be no building freeze in Jerusalem or in the West Bank, not for three months, not for three days, not even for three hours.”
Liberman was responding to a demand made by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas for a short building freeze, possibly for a few months. A ten month freeze on Israeli settlement building expired in September. Since then the Palestinians have refused to return to negotiations until there is another freeze.
Although he rejected Abbas’ request for a settlement building freeze, Lieberman said “we are ready to renew negotiations with no preconditions immediately.”
The recent reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah also came up during the speech. We have a right to wonder about Fatah’s true intentions, Lieberman said.
“There is an organization with a pact calling for the destruction of Israel by way of Jihad which aspires for a world with no Jews,” Lieberman said. The fact that “Fatah considers them a partner should teach us more about Fatah than about Hamas.”
President Shimon Peres, who was at the event, also warned the crowd about the Palestinian reconciliation.
“We see within the Palestinians two camps – one that is ready to start peace negotiations, that Fatah camp, and a camp that isn’t ready to denounce terror, the Hamas camp,” the president said, adding that “democracy and terror can’t co-exist.”
“The two camps are currently trying to unite. It is not our business and we don’t want to get involved in their decision to unite. It is our business to make sure that the West bank doesn’t turn into Gaza,” Peres said.
Lieberman to world: What about Syria?
The world community must intervene in favor of the people of Syria and Iran, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday in a meeting with foreign envoys on the occasion of Independence Day.
The minister, who led the session along with President Shimon Peres, said that the oppression of protestors in Syria, Yemen, Libya and other states in the region cannot be justified. He then wondered why the international community intervened in Libya, but not in Iran or in Syria.
“What conclusions should we draw from this inconsistency?” he told the envoys, adding that the world’s conduct was sending an upsetting message to residents of the Middle East while pushing peace, security and democracy further away.
It doesn’t appear that any of these Israeli leaders are serious:
LIEBERMAN: “We are ready to renew negotiations with no preconditions immediately.”
This completely contradicts Netanyahu’s statement, that the PA had to “choose between HAMAS and negotiations.” Apparently, the “hawkish” Lieberman is saying that Bibi was only spouting hot air; that Israel will continue the phoney “peace process” with the Devil himself.
LIEBERMAN: “We have a right to wonder about Fatah’s true intentions,”
What’s to wonder about? Is Lieberman the only one in Israel who doesn’t know that both Fatah and their partner HAMAS have explicitly stated their intention to wipe Israel off the map? Maybe he’s never visited the PA website that shows Arab “Palestine” replacing Jewish Israel.
LIEBERMAN: “There is an organization with a pact calling for the destruction of Israel by way of Jihad which aspires for a world with no Jews,” The fact that “Fatah considers them a partner should teach us more about Fatah than about Hamas.”
I’m glad he’s open to “teaching” on the matter; but frankly, he seems to be a very slow learner.
PERES: “We see within the Palestinians two camps – one that is ready to start peace negotiations, that Fatah camp, and a camp that isn’t ready to denounce terror, the Hamas camp,” the president said, adding that “democracy and terror can’t co-exist.”
Peres has missed the news, that Fatah and HAMAS are now one. Do Israeli politicians read Hebrew translations of English news? I got this info before the Pres did!
PERES: “The two camps are currently trying to unite. It is not our business…”
Again, Mr. P is very slow on the uptake. They HAVE united, and will — barring an Arafat 2001-style miracle — present a united front in the UN in September. “Not our business”? Who are the “our”? Peres and his dog? Maybe I lost something in Peres’s translation back into English via French.
PERES: “It is our business to make sure that the West bank doesn’t turn into Gaza”
That’s a geographical matter, Shimon. Don’t worry: The “West Bank”, which Jews and Christians know as “Judea & Samaria”, will never become Gaza. For one thing, rocketeers in Samaria will have an unobstructed view of Tel Aviv. For another, the Jews have not been stupid enough (yet) to provide YeSh Arabs with an unobstructed flow of arms by removing Jews from the area. What will make YeSh similar to Gaza is what ISRAEL does to its own people, not what Fatah and HAMAS do.
LIEBERMAN: What about Syria? The world community must intervene in favor of the people of Syria and Iran.
Right — just as the world community intervened in Lebanon in 2006, to protect Israel from Hizbullah. Has Avigdor been on vacation in Tahiti for the past five years?
Peres and Lieberman are both apparently lost in La La Land. Netanyahu wasn’t present to add his two cents worth. Hopefully, he has a better handle on what’s going on than his colleagues do.