Lieberman is 'done with secret meetings' with Arab leaders

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that he is “done with secret meetings with Arab leaders”. He urged such officials to hold future meetings in public. Press reports claim that he surprised his audience at the Interdisciplinary Centre in Tel Aviv with his admission.

Tuesday’s Maariv newspaper quoted Lieberman as saying that the Arab world must overcome its psychological barriers. “When I meet them secretly, they look me in the eye and we enjoy our talks, but when I meet them at an international conference, they suddenly treat me like an enemy. We must put everything on the table and out in the open instead of secret agreements.”

During his speech, Lieberman addressed the formation of a Fatah-Hamas government and presented his vision for a long-term peace agreement in the Middle East that can be achieved through communication with the Arab World. “When I refer to an agreement, I am first referring to a regional agreement on trade relations with the moderate Arab world,” he said. “Today, the line separates the moderates and extremists, and by regional agreement I mean full diplomatic relations with the countries in the Persian Gulf.” The Palestinians, he added, can reach an agreement on their own, but today the world understands that the regional problem lies in Iran and its affiliates. “So, when we reach an agreement with the Palestinians as part of a comprehensive regional agreement, we do not need the Quartet.”

The foreign minister also spoke about the international problems with the Arab world: “The world’s primary interest is Iran, and the second is all the Muslim Brotherhood branches, including Hamas, the Islamic Movement inside Israel and al-Qaeda.” He insisted that the fight against these two forces is more in the interests of the “moderate” Arab states than Israel’s.

A number of Israeli writers have expressed concerns over Lieberman’s speech. Maariv‘s Ben Caspit said that “comparing Israel to the regional mistress, an idea Lieberman borrowed from Meir Dagan, is an accurate comparison, as everyone is talking to Israel, but in secret.” They are enjoying Israel, he pointed out, but behind closed doors in a hidden diplomatic bedroom. “However, Lieberman is done with this, and wants to form real relationships; perhaps not as serious as a Catholic marriage, but enough to gain wife status, and for the world to know. In this regard, Lieberman is expected to be disappointed.”

Caspit noted that the moderate Arab countries cannot meet these conditions “because they are inhabited by immoderate people.” Israel, he pointed out, continues to attract the hatred of the masses in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the other Arab countries as a result of decades of what he called “Islamist brainwashing” and hostile incitement. “However, Lieberman is generally going in the right way.”

According to Shamoun Shiver writing in Yedioth Ahronoth, Lieberman is suggesting the adoption of a new approach to solve the conflict. “Not more fruitless negotiations with the Palestinians, but a series of peace agreements with Saudi Arabia and a group of other Arab countries, which will ultimately involve the Palestinians.” For Lieberman, he believes, this is very easy, because Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states all have common enemies in the form of the Iranian regime and the “extremist” Islamic movements active in the region. “Is there potential for an Israeli-Saudi agreement? It depends, but at least Lieberman is suggesting that we abandon the idea supported by Mossad leaders in the past, especially Meir Dagan; the idea of the Saudis preferring to treat Israel as a mistress that everyone enjoys but refuses to be seen with in public.”