Livni accuses Lieberman of trivializing Holocaust
Hatnua chairwoman blasts FM after he accused his European counterparts of ignoring calls for Israel's destruction
Hatnua Chairwoman Tzipi Livni slammed Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday after he compared steps taken by European nations against Israel with their failure to address the threat against Jews prior to the Holocaust.
"This comparison trivializes the Holocaust, it is wrong and unacceptable," Livni said. "The state of Israeli citizens today is nothing like that of Europe's Jews then."
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Speaking at a conference in Herzliya, Livni stressed, "Not everyone is against us and not everyone is an anti-Semite. True, there is criticism of the current policy but we must distinguish between that and the support for Israel as a state."
Livni criticized the government's policy saying that it is in Israel's best interest to change it. "The resumption of negotiations will not only preserve Israel as a Jewish and democratic state but will also restore the legitimacy to launch military operations whenever necessary and maintain Israel's security interests."
Lieberman harshly criticized some of his European counterparts on Tuesday following the European Union's condemnation of the construction plan in area E1 and accused them of intentionally ignoring calls for Israel's destruction.
"In the eyes of some European foreign ministers, the destruction of Israel is obvious," he said. He then mentioned Europe's failure to address the threat against Jews prior to the Holocaust.
Lieberman explained his controversial statements during the conference in Herzliya.
"The Europeans decided to pressure our side alone and ignore the terror organizations on the Palestinian side including the murder of innocents, the smuggling of weapons into Gaza etc. They are shutting their eyes and ears in the face of the incessant rocket fire from Gaza at Israel."
He cynically remarked, "I'm told that I'm the bad guy and I agree with that but even the good guy would have trouble finding solutions to this situation."
The foreign minister noted that all of Israel's attempts to reach peace with the Palestinians "failed because of refusal from the other side."
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