Lieberman rules out annexation of West Bank

Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has ruled out the annexation of the West Bank, saying that “although it’s a good idea, it is unrealistic”. He called instead for “population swap” which includes the annexation of all the settlements and the transfer of an Arab-populated area inside Israel to the future Palestinian state within a “single deal with Arab countries”.

Lieberman proposed his plan in a speech to the Israeli Conference of Auditors earlier this week. “Peace is far from the Middle East and not from Israel only because of the deep problems in the Arab community and Islamic world,” he insisted. “This is not associated with us.” He denied Egyptian claims that the Palestinian problem is at the heart of the conflict. “This is far from reality. There is no connection between the Palestinian conflict and the uprising in Tunisia, Syria, Egypt or Bahrain. The Palestinian conflict is not even one per cent of the events in the Middle East. Who is interested in the ongoing civil war for three years in Syria? What is the relation between this and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict?”

Criticising Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for not taking a more proactive stance, the Moldova-born extremist said that the status quo does not work. “This is just like in a football match; if you are defending all the time you will soon be hit. A person should take the initiative. We cannot say No all the time and reject all offers. The only party with an organised direction and clear thinking is the Yisrael Beiteinu Party.” Lieberman is the leader of that party. He pointed out that it has adopted a comprehensive agreement on the Palestinian issue, the Arab world and the Palestinians living in Israel.

“We should not bury our heads in the sand and escape from reality,” he argued. “There are five million Palestinian refugees in the world, nearly three million of them live on our side. They all want to return here. But even if a quarter of them returned, the Israeli Ministry of Absorption does not have the capacity to absorb them.” In what was a grossly racist calumny, he said that this would be problematic. “Since they would not have shelter and would not have work, they would have to steal.”

Any agreement with the Palestinians must include an agreement with the Arab world, Lieberman added. “Separate agreements are not realistic or beneficial.” The Arab Peace Initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia does not include the right of return, he noted.

The right-wing politician slammed the leadership of the Arab Israelis, claiming that they suffer from schizophrenia: “The Arab leadership in the State of Israel represents mainly Arabs of Israel and the terrorist organisations in the world. I’m talking about facts. During every confrontation including the war in Lebanon, Operation Cast Lead and Pillar of Cloud operations, the Arab leadership sided with Hezbollah and Hamas. None of them stood next to Israel. This schizophrenia must disappear.” His extremism knows no bounds.