Lieberman - Government will not recognize Annapolis deal

Thursday April 02, 2009 07:42 by IMEMC & Agencies

The new Israeli Foreign Minister, extremist right-winger of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, Avigdor Lieberman, said on Wednesday that the new Israeli government rejects the outcome of the Annapolis summit of 2007as the talks were never approved by the government and the Knesset.

Lieberman also said that Israel is only obliged to respect the Road Map peace plan as it was approved by ministerial council in Israel and by the Security Council.

He added that Israel will not rush into a permanent peace deal with the Palestinians and will reject any plans to withdraw from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights saying that in 1977 Israel “gave up” an area three times bigger than the Golan “but peace was never achieved”.

Lieberman claimed that more withdrawals will lead to more pressures on Israel.

Although he recently insulted the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, he desribed Egypt as an important peace partner because of its importantance in contributing to regional stability.

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud), and his Defense Minister, Ehud Barak (Labor) are well aware that the policies of Lieberman, who openly calls for the expulsion of Arabs and Palestinians, could lead to difficulties for Israel in its dealings with the United States and Europe.  

Lieberman: Israel not bound by Annapolis, Palestinians not surprised

Date: 01 / 04 / 2009  Time:  21:03
Bethlehem - Ma’an/Agencies -

Right-wing Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has no intention of seeing the new government abide by the terms of the Annapolis Agreement, according to a speech delivered his first day on the job.

During a Wednesday news conference Lieberman stressed that Israel was not bound by the Agreement, which called for a cessation of settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and aimed at building a separate state for Palestinians alongside Israel.

"There is one document that obligates us - and that's not the Annapolis conference, it has no validity," Lieberman said.

The Annapolis agreement was a US-sponsored initiative that saw parties meet in Maryland to revive the US-backed Road Map plan in 2007.

According to some media sources, those close to now Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, the new leader shares Lieberman’s rejection of the agreement.

In 2006 the international community imposed a siege on the Palestinian party Hamas because of its refusal to recognize the state of Israel until it agreed to step behind the 1967 boundaries.

Reactions

Local and international reactions to Lieberman’s statements were quick and condemnatory.

"There is no alternative to a two-state solution, other than a lone-state solution, and if there is a one-state solution there will be a big fight," Middle East Quartet Envoy Tony Blair was quoted as saying.

Aides to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed even harsher reactions.

"This minister is an obstacle to peace," said Yasser Abed Rabbo.

"This is a challenge to the international community and to the United States that adopted the two-state solution," said Abbas’ spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdainah to Reuters’ journalists.

Palestinians on the street, however, were for the most part not shocked by the proclamation. Many noted that even though former Israeli Prime Minister met Palestinian leaders weekly and agreed himself to the Annapolis program, he did little to advance the creation of a Palestinian state.

Haniya's office urges rethinking of Palestinian response to Lieberman

Date: 02 / 04 / 2009  Time:  11:17
Gaza – Ma'an –

The de facto Palestinian government in Gaza urged the Palestinian negotiating team to rethink its position on Thursday after Israel’s new prime minister said his country is no longer bound by previous commitments to the peace process.

The Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said shortly after taking office on Wednesday that Israel is no longer bound to commitments it made at the Annapolis international conference in the United States in 2007.

This pronouncement rolls back Israel’s policy to a time when it opposed final status negotiations toward the creation of a Palestinian state, calling for the implementation of the US-backed Road Map peace plan as a precondition for such talks.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Youssef Rizqah, an advisor to the de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah said, “We would like to draw your attention to Lieberman's personal extremist ideology based on racism that denies Palestinian rights.

“He [Lieberman] only recognizes the Road Map and this situation must be seriously revised by the Palestinian leadership with the Israeli side,” the statement added.

Rizqah said that Lieberman’s position poses a challenge, and that Palestinians should take a strong stand in the face of this.

Expressing the Palestinian Authority’s reaction on Wednesday night, presidential aide Yasser Abed Rabbo called Lieberman an “obstacle to peace.”

Fateh and Hamas: Netanyahu government lacks international acceptance?

Thursday April 02, 2009 10:45 by IMEMC & Agencies

The rival Fateh and Hamas movements, in separate statements, said that the new Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu lacks international legitimacy as it is a government which wants to continue the occupation rather than enter a genuine peace process.

Benjamin Netanyahu - Image reprinted from baltimore.indymedia.org/

Fateh spokesperson, Fahmi Za’arir, said that statements about “economic peace” constitute a means, used by the extreme right wing government in Israel, to disguise its real intentions of trying to avoid any real Israeli commitment to the peace process.

He added that the government does not want to work towards a deal that would lead to the establishment of a viable Palestinian State, and is not willing to accept the principle of land for peace.

Furthermore, Za’arir stated that the continuation of the peace process depends on a clear Israeli commitment and a time-frame for ending the occupation.

“Fateh and the Palestinian people will not accept co-existence with the occupation”, Za’arir stated, “We will struggle until we achieve freedom and ou legitimate rights”.

Meanwhile, Hamas movement said that the Israeli government reflects the new face of Israeli society, a face which "rejects peace, denies Palestinian rights, and only reveals hatred".

Fawzi Barhoum, media spokesperson of Hamas, said that there is no real difference between various Israeli governments. “We tried them all, but the Netanyahu government reflects a racist composition with a clear racist and extremist agenda that denies our legitimate rights”.

Barhoum added that it is unacceptable that the world is demanding Hamas recognizes previously signed peace deals, whilst the new government in Israel has a clear racist agenda which denies the internationally recognized rights of the Palestinians, and rejects previously signed deals.

He called for all possible pressure be put on Israel, including the ending of all talks and coordination between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Israel.  

The new Israeli government was officially approved on Wednesday as the largest coalition government in Israel’s history.