Livni Slams Netanyahu; Says Turkey Has to Choose a Side

Almanar

Livni Slams Netanyahu; Says Turkey Has to Choose a Side

15/01/2010 As the most recent confrontation with Turkey, over Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon humiliating Turkish ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol on Tuesday, began to abate, Kadima and opposition leader Tzipi Livni said that Ankara would have to decide which side to align itself with.

"Every country in the region must decide which side it is on. This goes for Turkey, too," Livni said Thursday. "The choice is not between Israel and the Palestinians or the Jews and the Arab but between Israel, the legitimate Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and Jordan and the world of fundamental Islam."

Livni was adamant that Valley of the Wolves, the Turkish TV series depicting Mossad agents as kidnappers and baby-killers, could only serve to incite violence. "Erdogan's words are also very worrying," she said.

Livni also slammed the Israeli prime minister, foreign minister and his deputy for their conduct. She said that the government is jeopardizing Israel's strategic position and creating a situation whereby Israel's enemies think it "only understands threats."

"If anyone thinks that games of [musical] chairs are the way to defend Israel's interests ... they are making a strategic mistake," Livni concluded.

Livni's remarks came after Ayalon humiliated the Turkish Ambassador by sitting him in a lower chair during their meeting and making comments about it to the Israeli media.

The Kadima chairwoman also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who initially backed Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and only later demanded that Deputy Minister Ayalon apologize to the Turks. "The question is not only the manner in which the deputy foreign minister express himself, but also where was the prime minister all this time? We have been talking about who was taller and who was shorter for the past three days, while the real damage is to Israel's interests," she said.

Livni noted that she was careful not to criticize the prime minister on this matter due to the conflict between Israel and Turkey, but said that the recent incident cannot be disregarded because it "constitutes Israel's policy rather than that of a misguided individual."

Earlier Thursday, Israeli President Shimon Peres criticized Ayalon, stressing that the incident was the mistake of a single man, and not of the entire country. "This is not diplomacy, but rather a mistake by one person. It is good that this man, the deputy foreign minister, fixed his mistake," the president said at an event in Tel Aviv.

"This must not be attributed to the entire country and to all diplomats. We must learn not to make such mistakes," Peres reportedly said.

Earlier Thursday, Kadima Council chairman and former MK Haim Ramon said that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government should send a letter of apology to all the Israeli settlers for humiliating Israel in an unnecessary confrontation with Turkey.

In an interview with Israel Radio, Ramon said that the government should have acted intelligently and sensibly and not like a bull in a china shop. "Netanyahu supported Ayalon," Ramon said, adding that "only the intervention by Peres, who played the role of responsible adult, prevented a major diplomatic crisis with Turkey."

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