FM: Anyone would be better than Abbas
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman claims Palestinian president poses most immediate obstacle to peace negotiations; says Abbas focusing on his own personal agenda
"He's threatening to give the keys over to someone else? That's no threat, it's a blessing and I hope he finally does it," Lieberman said of Abbas at a Foreign Ministry press briefing. "Any replacement would be better than him. At the moment it is clear that he is only focusing on his own personal agenda."
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Lieberman added that the only thing important to Abbas is his place in the pages of history and his need spend the rest oh days in ease and prosperity. "He sees Gaddafi, Ben-Ali and Mubarak and he thinks first of all of himself. It's very human, but it doesn't help in reaching an agreement."
"He wants to be remembered as the man who founded a Palestinian state and achieved reconciliation among the Palestinians," said Lieberman, adding: "The basic question is, what happens if the Palestinians get independence – who will guarantee that we don't see Qassam rockets fired from Qalqilyah on Ra'anana, Kfar Saba and Herzliya?
"Today there is no doubt that the moment we relinquish responsibility for security, within the year Qassam rockets will be falling on Gush Dan and I can say that with 200% certainty."
'Huge gap'
Lieberman alleged that the Palestinians accepted a gesture made by the Netanyahu government as par for the course like the acceptance of the two state solution outline, the settlement freeze and the removal of roadblocks. The Palestinians even "asked for more" and carried out unilateral acts against Israel.
The foreign minister claimed that the Palestinian UN bid is stuck and that the Palestinians have not yet matured enough for statehood.
"The Palestinian initiative has stopped, for now at least. Between what actually happened and the descriptions of what would happen lies a huge gap.
"Today the Palestinians don't have the necessary number of states in order for their bid to pass in the Security Council. How will they manage an independent state if they can't even manage elections?"
This is not the first time Lieberman has attacked the Palestinian president. The foreign minister even left the UN General Assembly during Abbas' speech last month and later called his speech anti-Semitic.
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