I have another way
Special: Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman talks about Palestinian bid, peace process
The implications of a Palestinian move would be harsh and grave, says Lieberman, adding that there is no need to go into detail or issue threats. We shall not move on as usual should the Palestinians pass a unilateral decision, he says. We already prepared a document with a long list of moves that Israel could undertake in response.
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This document has been forwarded to the prime Minister’s Office and is also available at the Foreign Ministry, Lieberman says. We have consciously not yet taken any decision, he says. Yet if they leave us no other choice, we shall present it to the cabinet and see where we go from here.
I’m trying to be responsible and level-headed, says Lieberman. I’m not seeking confrontations at any price. Netanyahu’s Bar-Ilan speech was not simple for me to accept. Yet we accepted it, just like we accepted the decision to freeze settlement construction for 10 months.
‘Land-for-peace doesn’t work’
I asked Lieberman whether he doesn’t see the link between the diplomatic impasse and what’s happening around here. Indeed, not everything is under our control, I told him, yet had there been a diplomatic process, maybe Erdogan would not be behaving as he does, and the mood in Egypt would be different as well. Had we agreed to accept Obama’s principles, the 1967 lines, a demilitarized Palestinian state and security arrangements, the situation would be in our favor even had the Palestinians refused. Now, the burden of proof is entirely on us.
Nonsense, said Lieberman. Those who say this are people who refrain from dealing with reality, who have some kind of mental defect, or who possess suicidal tendencies. There is no other logical explanation. A diplomatic process? We already had one, he says. Look at the outcome: The Lebanon War, Operation Cast Lead, this is what we got in exchange. We disengaged from the Gaza Strip and we got Hamas and Jihad, as well as 12,000 missiles fired at southern Israel, he says. We left Lebanon, and what did we get in exchange – peace and security?
Not doing enough? Lieberman responded. My job now is to speak the truth and to present other proposals. Eighteen years have passed since the Oslo Accords, we had various prime ministers here since then, yet we are still at a dead-end. Perhaps this is the wrong path? Maybe we need to choose another way? Perhaps we need to reconsider the entire concept of land-for-peace, because it simply doesn’t work?
Lieberman offers no details, but it sounds like he is talking about annulling the Oslo Accords. So what is the Foreign Ministry’s proposal? I ask. To annex Judea and Samaria?
At this time, says Lieberman, I suggest that we openly declare, without being ashamed, that thus far we have seen plenty of gestures and dozens of new proposals, ranging from Camp David to Annapolis, yet we saw no results. Now is the Palestinians’ turn. I have another way, Lieberman says. We need to get together and do some rethinking.
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