Lieberman: Serve your country or pay up

"Every Israeli citizen must serve his country, either through military service or through National Service (Sherut Leumi)," Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman told a room full of political science students at Haifa University Wednesday.

Lieberman, who lectured before the university's Political Science Faculty, on "Israel's geopolitical stand in the Middle East," went on to tell the students that "according to a bill I just submitted, such service will be made mandatory and anyone dodging it will either have to pay a fine to the amount of a certain percentage of their annual income."

The idea, he explained, mimics one in the Swiss constitution: "Nobody doubts that Switzerland is a democracy, and one which has not been involved in any war for centuries, but still, they passed a similar law in the late 1990s."

Lieberman went on to say he has no problem with Israel being the home of non-Jews, just as long as they pledge their allegiance to it and its Jewish-Zionist nature, "(…since) some Jews are worse that out biggest enemies."

The head of Yisrael Beiteinu further said he was perplexed by the fact that several MKs saw fit to visit Syria and Lebanon after the Second Lebanon War: "No other country in the world, including the US and UK lets its citizens get away with half of what Israel does.

"Here you have MKs visit an enemy state in wartime, return to Israel and resume their government posts. Do you think an American congressman who met (Osama) Bin Laden would be allowed to keep his job?"

Geopolitical realities

Lieberman also addressed the Iranian issue, stating the Islamic Republic was the origin of most – if not all – of Israel's security concerns.

"Iran poses a three-sided problem," he explained. "First we have Hizbullah in the north; secondly we have Hamas and the Jihad in the south; and thirdly we have Iran's own unconventional weapons capability.

"If it wasn't for Iran," he stated, "Israel wouldn't have any security concerns."

When asked about the Iranian pursuit of nuclear technology, Lieberman replied "I'm often asked why (we) don't want Iran to have any nuclear capability for peaceful use. Let me ask – do you think they're developing their ballistic missiles in order to export nuclear technology for peaceful purposes to the rest of the world?"

The only way to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions is to impose real financial and economical sanctions on it, like the ones imposed on Libya and North Korea, he added.

Upon his arrival at Haifa University, Lieberman was met by two groups of protestors. Several left-wing students called "Away with fascism" at him, while the right-wing student called out slogans in his support.

Shortly after his lecture began, a physical altercation broke out between the two groups.

The logic of transfer

Some of those attending the lecture wondered aloud about Lieberman's support of the transfer doctrine, to which he replied that contrary to belief, he was not for any kind of transfer.

"The problem is that some people are so obsessed and zealous they believe their own lies. We are talking about a reasonable, logical solution, supported by dozens of past precedents of land and population swaps.

"There is even a UN resolution to that effect," continued Lieberman. "Why can't we swap the area of Ma'aleh Adumim and Pisgat Ze'ev – which have not a single Arab community near them – for the Triangle area (a concentration of Arab villages near the Green Line), which can be given to the Palestinian Authority?

"Let the PA pay their unemployment, and health benefits," said Lieberman. Throughout his lecture and for several hours after it, Jewish and Arab students continued their confrontation in front of the faculty's entrance, prompting the organizers to "smuggle" Lieberman out the faculty's back door.

Later Wednesday, MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List – Ta'al) responded to Lieberman's service bill initiative saying that "Lieberman is a Jewish fascist."

According to Tibi, "Lieberman is driven by his hatred of Arabs and he lives off encouraging hatred and racism." The bill, he added, was more appropriate "for the infamous Ku Klux Klan movement."

Amnon Meranda contributed to this report