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Deputy prime minister and Minister of Strategic Threats Avigdor Lieberman
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners November 18, 2006 |
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Deputy prime minister and Minister of Strategic Threats Avigdor Lieberman said Israel should ignore Abbas, wipe out the Hamas leadership and walk away from the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan. Lieberman was laying out his views on the conflict with the Palestinians in an interview with Israel Radio.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert forged an alliance with Lieberman, one of Israel's most divisive politicians, last month to shore up his shaky coalition. The inclusion of Lieberman raised concern that Olmert's government would freeze all peace efforts. Olmert spokeswoman Miri Eisin, had no comment Saturday on Lieberman's remarks.
The Israel Our Home chairman suggested a series of steps based on his belief that the Palestinians are not interested in establishing their own independent sate, but rather want to see Israel destroyed.
"Continued adherence to the Oslo Accords and the road map will lead us to another round of confrontations, too much bloodshed, and in the end we will find ourselves at a worse dead end than the present one. It puts our whole future in danger," Lieberman said.
He continued, "There is no point in targeting refugee camps and Beit Hanoun and all such places. For those people, who live on ten shekels a day, there is nothing to lose. When they are killed, they recruit themselves gladly. We have to focus on those who have something to lose -- the leaders of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad."
'Focus on Jordan'
Lieberman sees Abbas as a weak leader that should be ignored in favor of stronger ties with Jordan in all that is bound up in the fate of the West Bank. "We have always targeted the wrong places and taken care not to speak with the right people," Lieberman explained.
"We have a dependable partner, and that is Jordan. We must declare Abbas irrelevant. He is hated in the Palestinian Authority. We should ignore him because he has no authority, no power," he added.
"This needs to be explained to the entire international community. I believe there are normal people there who want to develop good neighborhoods, and good education and health systems. There is much to be done with the economic situation there too," he said.
Lieberman would like to send Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders on a one-way ticket to meet their virgins: "I see all Hamas and Jihad leaders moving about freely, continuing to provoke emotions. They must disappear, go to heaven, all of them. There is no room for compromise on this matter."
Lieberman also addressed the issue of the Philadelphi route separating Gaza and Egypt, which in his view should be repossessed by the Israeli Defense Forces to stop the smuggling of weapons and funds into the Strip.
"We must learn our lessons from Oslo, from leaving Gaza, from what happened following the disengagement. Without those lessons, moving on is impossible," Lieberman concluded.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, a top Abbas aide, said Lieberman is stuck in the past and that his ideas "are a recipe for the continuation of bloodshed, violence, extremism and hatred between the two sides."
In Gaza, the Hamas government said it was dissatisfied with the U.N. General Assembly's call for an end to military operations in the Gaza Strip.
The resolution, passed in a special emergency session Friday, did not go far enough, said government spokesman Ghazi Hamad. "The ongoing Israeli attacks on the Palestinian civilians are war crimes that violate international law. Therefore, sanctions must imposed on Israel," he said in a statement.
Israel's U.N. ambassador had blasted the resolution as a "farce" and a "circus."
The Arab League had asked for the session after the United States vetoed a similar, but watered-down U.N. Security Council draft resolution against Israel's actions last weekend. There are no vetoes in the General Assembly and the chamber's resolutions are nonbinding, considered more a reflection of international opinion.
The AP and Ynetnews contributed to this report.
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