Lieberman says no peace while Abbas is PA president

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that he expects no progress in the peace process through negotiations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Lieberman, sources in Israel claim, told his Australian counterpart, Bob Carr, “There will be neither diplomatic progress nor an accord with the Palestinians as long as [Abbas] remains in power.”

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He slammed the PA for a letter sent to the EU urging it not to upgrade Europe’s political and trade links with Israel. The letter, which was sent to coincide with the annual EU-Israel Association Council meeting, accuses Israel of, inter alia, changing the demographic situation in Jerusalem, exploiting natural resources, the prolonged use of administrative detention and “extrajudicial killings and torture”. Lieberman believes that this is “slanderous”.

The extreme right-winger was joined by other Israeli officials in blaming the PA for the deadlock in the peace process. They described the threat to go to the UN General Assembly for recognition as a non-member state as a “counterproductive” move.