Lieberman: Triangle area is part of the Palestinian state

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that he believes that the area known as “the triangle” should be part of a Palestinian state in exchange for Israel’s annexation of parts of the West Bank.

Israeli sources said that Lieberman’s statement came at the start of a meeting held by Knesset members of the Israel Our Home party, which he heads. He expressed hope that the “inhabitant” identity card carried by some Jerusalemites would be cancelled, saying: “They are not citizens of Israel, and we can cancel the residence card.”

Lieberman added: “These days, as we talk about the political issue, and more than any time before, the triangle area must be part of any future solution, we are here and they are there, the triangle is part of the Palestinian state, because the problems there are not linked to us, those who blow up the cars of Fatah leaders in Gaza using IEDs are not Israeli.”

The “triangle” is an area in the north of Israel, next to the West Bank, which has a predominantly Arab population.

Lieberman claimed that “what is happening is a result of having people like Haneen Zoubi and other similar persons free rather than behind bars.”

At the start of his speech, Lieberman talked about the assassination of martyr Khairuddin Hamdan in Kafr Kanna saying: “For the Arab young man, I have spoken with the British foreign minister and I told him if a young man attacked a British policeman with a knife he would have the same end like Hamdan. We have to support the Ministry of Justice’s investigation unit with police officers who do their job faithfully. There had been a threat and we had to react firmly to it.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched an attack on Palestinians living in Israel who chant against Israel and in favour of a Palestinian state, calling on them to “go to the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, promising that the state of Israel will not prevent them from doing so and will even facilitate their relocation process”.