Avigdor Lieberman
Photo: AFP
Israel warns Belarus against ties with Iran
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warns Minsk against forging diplomatic, trade ties with Tehran
Israel's foreign minister on Thursday strongly cautioned Belarus against developing relations with Iran.
Avigdor Lieberman said that Iran poses a major threat to stability in the entire Middle East. He told reporters that Israel expects Belarusian officials to take its concerns into account and promised to intensify ties with the ex-Soviet nation.
Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has developed close ties with Iran, calling the Islamic republic a "key partner." He and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have exchanged visits and warm words of solidarity.
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Lieberman, who arrived in Belarus after visiting Russia, harshly criticized the Iranian president for sponsoring an annual conference denying the Holocaust. Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly questioned the extent of the Holocaust and called for Israel to be "wiped from the map," said Wednesday that the Holocaust was a "deception."
"We can't tolerate a country which is a member of the United Nations holding a conference on Holocaust denial on annual basis," Lieberman said. "Any attempts to rewrite the World War II history, including the Holocaust denial, are unacceptable."
Lieberman also criticized French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Russia has been Belarus' main sponsor, but Lukashenko recently has sought to improve Belarus' ties with the West amid a cold spell in relations with Moscow which worsened over economic and financial disputes.
He urged Israel Thursday to help Belarus normalize its ties with the United States and EU nations, which have been strained over the Belarusian authorities' crackdown on dissent and free media.
Lieberman said that Israel is ready to consider the extension of ties and said that it would invest $500 million into the development of Belarus electronics industry.
Before the war, about 1 million Jews lived in Belarus and 800,000 of them died in the Holocaust. Today they number 27,000 in the country of 10 million.
Belarusian authorities have paid lip service to Holocaust victims while at the same time allowing the destruction of Jewish cemeteries. In 2007, Lukashenko compared Jews to pigs, drawing a sharp protest from the Israeli government.
