Lieberman calls for new elections to avoid release of Palestinian prisoners

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has called to hold new elections in Israel, saying that the release of the fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners “is not an option”.

In a conference held in New York on Sunday, Lieberman outlined the three possibilities available to the Israeli government: (1) the release of the Palestinian prisoners despite the Palestinians’ breach of their agreement, (2) the formation of a new coalition government, or (3) holding new elections. He then said holding elections would be preferable to releasing the Palestinian prisoners as US Secretary of State John Kerry has proposed.

Another meeting was held on Sunday evening in Jerusalem between Tzipi Livni, the head of the Israeli delegation, and Saeb Erekat, the head of the Palestinian delegation, in the presence of US peace envoy Martin Indyk, in another attempt to save the beleaguered peace process and prevent the total collapse of the US-sponsored negotiations.

This meeting was the second of its kind between Erekat and Livni since the negotiations faltered last week after Israel refused to release the fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners as per a prior agreement and the Palestinians decided to turn to the UN in response, also breaking a prior agreement. Erekat and Livni’s previous meeting, held on Wednesday evening, witnessed an exchange of accusations between the two negotiators.

Indyk met separately with Erekat and Livni last Friday in an effort to bridge the gaps between the two sides’ stances.