Mazuz impedes Lieberman appointment

Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz ruled Sunday evening that Israel Our Home leader Avigdor Lieberman may not serve as Internal Security Minister while being probed by police.

Mazuz notified Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of his legal opinion on the matter. Israel Our Home had told Olmert's Kadima that it will not join the coalition government if Lieberman is not given the Internal Security Ministry.

Olmert has been seeking legal advice from Mazuz since embarking on coalition talks with other parties.

Mazuz and State Prosecutor Eran Shendar have been closely following a police investigation against Lieberman.

Police told both men the investigation has not been completed.

A probe was launched against Lieberman after the State Comptroller's Report in 2000 found financial irregularities in Israel Our Home accounts.

The State Prosecutor's Office said the party had received a loan of USD 1 million from an Israeli bank but the loan was approved only after a Vienna-based person had agreed to serve as a guarantor.

Lieberman: Olmert has to do the right thing

Reacting to the ruling, Lieberman said: "I received no official message on the subject, but if this is true everyone knows this is a political process which has been going on since our success in the elections. The way the subject is being handled arouses curiosity, is absurd and has been going on for 10 years. Olmert has to prove himself as a leader, and do the right thing in appointing me as Internal Security Minister."

While the coalition negotiations with the Labor Party neared an agreement Satuday, there appeared to be a crisis in Kadima's talks with Israel Our Home, which announced Saturday afternoon that it does not accept the government's diplomatic basic guidelines relating to the evacuation of settlements.

The bone of contention is clause 3 of the basic guidelines draft, which says that "the Israeli territory, the borders of which will be determined by the government, will entail a reduction of the Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria."

Avigdor Lieberman's party said in a statement: "Our faction opposes the reference in the diplomatic basic guidelines concerning a reduction of the Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria, and demands that every act aimed at forming Israel's permanent borders be in accordance with the demographic reality, in order to ensure that the State of Israel will be a Jewish state with a Jewish majority."

"Israel Our Home will not agree to what is stated in clause 3 of the basic guidelines," the statement read.

Knesset Member Yuri Shtern told Ynet: "We received the draft from them. We don’t see any logic in committing in advance to evacuate settlements if it's not in return for other accomplishments."

Attila Somfalvi contributed to the report