Lieberman Says Abbas on Shaky Ground as PA Accuses Him of Impeding Talks

06/09/2010 Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman continued to second-guess direct peace talks Monday morning after the Palestinian Authority blasted his recent comments as an impediment to peace.

"Aside from the enthusiastic party there must be someone who cools down and lowers expectations," he told Israel Radio's morning program.

"We are going to sign (a deal) with someone on shaky ground," he added, referring to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"The US forced him into this meeting in Washington. Who does Abbas represent? Hamas is in power in Gaza, and the elections in the Palestinian Authority have been postponed two or three times. Any government that comes to power in the next elections can renounce Abbas and say he doesn't represent anyone."

Lieberman added that the Palestinians were attempting to harm the peace process. "The other side is always looking for excuses why not to hold serious negotiations. For them it is all a show to blame Israel for the failure of talks, so why give them the opportunity to blame us?"

He claimed a responsible state must define realistic goals. "I am afraid of creating a situation with a lot of expectations that cannot be reached, after which the blame will fall on us. That can't happen. We must speak in realistic terms," he said.

"The disappointment that comes afterwards could ruin what we have accomplished up until now."

The Israeli foreign minister added that the most that can be hoped for is a long-term interim arrangement. "The alternative is to expand our achievements in the areas of economics and security," he said.

PA ACCUSES LIEBERMAN OF IMPEDING THE TALKS

Lieberman's pessimistic prediction that peace will be remain illusive and unattainable stirred immediate controversy Sunday, with both Palestinian Authority officials and Israeli government ministers saying the Israeli politician was an impediment to the fledgling peace process.

Sources close to Netanyahu attempted to downplay the controversial statement, saying that the Israeli prime minister and the foreign minister enjoy a good working relationship.

Nevertheless, several top ministers expressed their concern over what they perceive as Lieberman's "political games" in which he is setting the stage for the possible failure of the peace talks.

"This is, undoubtedly, a problem," said a cabinet minister. "Can you imagine what would have happened if the Palestinian foreign minister had made such a statement? We'd all be jumping down his throat."

Ghassan Khatib, spokesman for the Palestinian government, said that participation of politicians like Lieberman in the Israeli government "is one of the things impeding any progress towards peace, because peace means the end of the occupation, while Lieberman is a fan of the occupation and settlement activity."

Knesset Member Nachman Shai (Kadima) seems to share the sentiment: Shai said Sunday that while "the prime minister is at least showing signs of seeking ways to promote the negotiations, Lieberman is placing hurdles in his way.

"The foreign minister's statements undermines the prime minister's credibility and raise doubts – does Israel have one government or two, each with its own foreign policy… The prime minister needs to see if the FM is representing his government or working against it."

One senior Israeli minister dismissed the statements, saying Lieberman is irrelevant to the negotiations: "Lieberman represents only one side of the coin. I hear him and I realize that he is looking out for his own political interests. He's trying to pull the remainder of the far-right elements in the Likud to his party. He doesn’t scare anyone."

Lieberman: The 1st round of Washington talks failed

[ 06/09/2010 - 10:47 AM ]

NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman declared that the first round of the direct negotiations between his occupation state and Palestinian de facto president Mahmoud Abbas miserably failed a few days after they were launched in Washington.

The Israeli media quoted Lieberman as saying during his meeting with members of Yisrael Beiteinu parliamentary bloc that it would be unlikely to reach a comprehensive agreement with the Palestinians over the next year or the next generation.

He said that nothing would be of use including the historic compromises and painful concessions, and expressed his belief that Abbas would not step down as he claimed.

For his part, spokesman for the Egyptian foreign ministry Hossam Zaki said that his country would host the second round of the PA-Israeli talks in Sharm Al-Sheikh on September 14.

He added that the talks would take place between Abbas and Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu in the presence of US secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

In the same context, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum downplayed the campaign launched by Fatah's authority under the title "we are your partners" which is intended for addressing Israelis and urging them to move towards peace.

Spokesman Barhoum said in a statement on Sunday that this campaign confirmed that Abbas's authority went bankrupt in everything and became unable to achieve anything, even if illusions.

He stressed that Abbas's authority has entered the stage of begging and its dovish campaign further points out that the Israeli government would give nothing at the negotiation table.

The spokesman added that this campaign would be of no use because the Israeli street has extremist tendencies and supports its current government which went too far in its aggression against the Palestinian people.

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