Lieberman slams Ashton after she urged Israel to 'reverse' moves against Palestinians
EU foreign policy chief condemns killing of Israeli police officer, as well as Israeli declaration of land near Gush Etzion as 'state land.'
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman offered sarcasm in response to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's plea to Israel on Friday to "reverse" actions it took against the Palestinians.
Expressing her concern of recent events in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Ashton urged Israel to retract its decision to declare a 1,000 dunams of land near Gush Etzion as "state land," where the Defense Ministry also authorized the construction of more settlement homes.
Ashton also deplored the continuation of "demolitions of Palestinian property" in Area C and East Jerusalem that results in "the displacement of vulnerable populations," as well as the "recent confiscation of EU Humanitarian Assistance provided to vulnerable civilians in Jabal al-Baba."
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A European source said last week that Israel had destroyed shelters funded by the EU in the E1 area, a very controversial area linking East Jerusalem to the West Bank.
She stressed these moves were "not conducive to the climate of trust and cooperation needed for the current peace negotiations to succeed," and called on all parties "to show utmost restraint and responsibility in order to not jeopardize the current negotiations process."
"While the whole world is working to try to solve the crisis in Ukraine; while in Syria innocent people are still being slaughtered on a daily basis; while mass terror attack continue striking Iraq; and while there are many other areas of conflict that claims human lives around the globe - the European Union's foreign policy chief found the real danger to world peace," Lieberman wrote in a post on his Facebook page on Friday evening.
"It's a good thing the European Union knows how to diagnose the world's critical issues and deal with them swiftly and determinedly," he added.
In her statement Friday, Ashton also condemned the murderous attack on Seder night that claimed the life of an Israeli police officer near Hebron, calling for "immediate end to all acts of violence."
