Israel’s new foreign minister scorns peace plan
Departing Livni grimaces as talk decries diplomacy
JERUSALEM – As foreign diplomats and his predecessor looked on in astonishment, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman began his new job Wednesday by declaring the death of U.S.-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
“Whoever thinks that concessions … will achieve something is wrong,” Lieberman said shortly after being sworn in before a crowded room of diplomats at the Foreign Ministry. “He will bring pressures and more wars.”
The latest round of talks in the 61-year conflict has faltered ever since former President George W. Bush launched it 16 months ago in Annapolis, Md., but Lieberman made it clear that he opposes attempts to pressure Israel into rushing into a deal with a weak Palestinian leadership.
He said the joint statement at Annapolis, which calls for “vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations” with the Palestinians, no longer bound Israel.
“It has no validity,” Lieberman said as Tzipi Livni, the outgoing foreign minister, who led Israel’s negotiating team during the Annapolis process, grimaced by his side.
Lieberman, a Soviet-born former nightclub bouncer, heads the ultranationalist Israel Is Our Home Party, the second-largest coalition partner in the new government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At one point Livni became so angry about Lieberman’s speech that she nearly rose to interrupt him.
“She was infuriated, and it was quite clear on her face,” one Foreign Ministry official said.
The speech also flew in the face of statements by President Barack Obama, who’s made the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a top priority in his young administration.
“It’s a direct challenge to the Obama administration,” said Gershom Gorenberg, an Israeli political analyst.
“He’s showing himself to be undiplomatic, to be a bull in a China shop,” Gorenberg said.
The State Department tried to minimize Lieberman’s comments, pointing instead to Netanyahu’s statements this week that he’s interested in peace with the Palestinians.
“We support the two-state solution, and we will continue to work for that,” State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said, speaking of the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Palestinian political leaders called Lieberman’s comments a slap in the face of diplomacy and a clear sign that the new government isn’t serious about resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
“He’s an obstacle to peace,” said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.