Netanyahu responds to Lapid's slight, calling him 'inexperienced'
After Lapid slammed the prime minister over peace process and settlements, Netanyahu attempts to belittle finance ministry, saying his comments indicate inexperience.
Prime Minister Netanyahu turned Finance Minister Yair Lapid's words against him Monday, using comments he made at the beginning of his political career to slam the centrist leader and call him inexperienced.
In a document released Sunday, Lapid criticized Netanyahu and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, urging a halt in settlement construction and saying "Extreme right-wing forces are pushing us toward the delusional idea of annexation… but we will not allow this to happen. Yesh Atid will not only bolt from the government, it will bring it down."
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"We should not allow inexperience in negotiations and security to lead us to a rash plans which will lead to devastating results like the (Gaza) disengagement," Netanyahu said,
Quoting comments Lapid made at Ariel University when he launched his party Yesh Atid, Netanyahu said "we must not allow ourselves to make the same historical mistakes made by the Israeli left, which always gives away its position before talks have begun, and causes the Palestinians to demand more and more… this is not the way you conduct negotiations, certainly not in this region," Netanyahu said.
"I do not deal in political commentary, I am in charge of security for Israeli citizens and I will continue to lead a responsible policy."
However, Lapid is just the beginning of Netanyahu's troubles. Earlier Sunday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman criticized the lack of coherence in the government's proposed policies on the Palestinians, attacking Netanyahu for not leading his cabinet and demanding that he formulate a plan that would represent the entire coalition.
"What happened yesterday, when four senior ministers gave public addresses one after the other with each proposing a different political solution, was a grotesque performance," said Lieberman at an Institute of Certified Public Accountants conference in Eilat, referencing Lapid's speech Sunday which was part of the Herzliya Conference and hosted leaders from Israel's major parties.
The panel on peace saw speeches by Bennett, Lapid, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who represented the Likud. Lieberman elaborated on his criticism, saying "one minister spoke of annexation, another minister spoke of deliberation, a woman minister spoke of segmentation, and the last spoke of stagnation. That is not a government policy. We need to cut down and adopt a single political plan to bind all parts of the coalition."
Lapid's borders
In his speech Sunday, Lapid detailed his position regarding peace talks, and the need to focus on final border arrangement with the Palestinians.
"There is no reason to keep avoiding the necessity of drawing out the State of Israel's future borders," Lapdi said.
Israel, he noted, "needs to come to the next round of peace talks with detailed maps, prepared by us, that express a wide national consensus. These maps would allow us to formulate a three-part move that, at the end of which, we will be completely separated from the Palestinians and reach a wide-reaching accord with the moderate Arab states."
Detailing the three stages of his proposed plan, Lapid called them "preparations," "trust building," and the final stage, "agreement."
"The reason these maps haven't been drawn until now is that they entail the need to freeze construction outside the major settlement blocs. But this sort of freeze is not a threat to us, and is not a concession on our part. It is exactly what we need to do.
"There's no reason to continue building settlements in areas that won't remain inside Israel's borders in any future accord, and there's no reason to invest billions in infrastructure that we would eventually give the Palestinians as a gift. I would rather invest the money to improve the lives of Israeli children, not in improving the lives of Palestinian children."
