Lieberman takes on PLO's 'Judenrein Palestine' remarks

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday directed Foreign Ministry officials to submit an formal protest to the EU and US over the remarks made by the PLO's ambassador to the US Maen Areikat in which he said that the future Palestinian state would be "free of Jews".

In an announcement distributed by Lieberman, he said that the statements correlate with similar statements made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and prove that the Palestinian leadership has adopted the "Judenrein" ideology.

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"It is advisable for the world's nations to take these statements into account when discussing the Palestinian request to establish an independent state," Lieberman said.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that the Foreign Ministry is considering whether to cancel Israel's participation in the Donors Conference in New York next week.

As the Palestinians continue to prepare for their unilateral declaration of statehood, in Israel, the foreign minister warned that "while there is no room for threats" should the Palestinian Authority's recognition efforts prevail, the move will have "dire consequences."

Lieberman stressed that Israel will not simply abide a unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood: "I hope common sense will prevail and we reach a point of modus Vivendi, which will also allow for negotiations."

On Wednesday the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Ambassador to the US Maen Areikat said that any future Palestinian state must be free of Jews.

Speaking to reporters in the US he said, "After the experience of the last 44 years of military occupation and all the conflict and friction, I think it would be in the best interest of the two people to be separated."

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