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World Jewish News
Lieberman has a vision for first stage of peace talks
19.06.2009
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday outlined his vision for the first stage of peace talks with the Palestinians, saying that the parties must begin negotiations with points "where there are no disputes."
"There is more than one issue of dispute with the Palestinians, so I would like to start from the point where there are no disputes," he added, speaking in Washington, D.C., where he met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"We can begin with the roadblocks, the outposts, the establishment of a single security apparatus, the smuggling of illegal weapons, a [security and governance] pilot project like in Jenin, which we would like to expand."
Lieberman said that there is no point in focusing on the issue of the settlements. "If we begin with sensitive issues, like Jerusalem, the whole thing will break down," he said.
He added that he believes Israelis and Palestinians must develop a "positive dynamic" and then engage in direct talks.
"When we adopted that mad process of disengagement [from Gaza] and we evacuated 7,000 Jews, the result was that Hamas came to power," Lieberman said. "I think that today if we create a positive dynamic we must then begin talks with the Palestinians. Each side has a right to its views, we have a position of our own, and Abu Mazen [PA President Mahmoud Abbas] has a stance of his own, and we need to begin talks without preconditions."
On the Syrian track, Lieberman said that members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration are ready to "get on the first plane to Damascus," or to receive President Bashar Assad at Ben-Gurion International Airport.
"We all believe in all the tracks and are trying, contrary to previous governments, to put everything on the table. There are no tricks and games, or secret diplomacy. Things are very clear. You want to talk, ahlan u-sahlan [you are invited]."
Lieberman said that during his private meeting with Clinton, as well as in broader forums, the subject of Israel's settlements was not central. Most of the time, he said, the discussion revolved around the new challenges facing the administration, including Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, Iraq and also Russia.
Lieberman has undoubtedly checked off a number of boxes during his Washington visit, at least from a personal standpoint. He stood next to Clinton as she spoke about the deep friendship between the United States and Israel, promising that Washington would do nothing to undermine Israel's security. She gave a big smile and said that she looks forward to cooperation and collaboration with the Israeli Foreign Minister.
Some of the reporters who wondered whether Lieberman spoke English, received answers in proper English, if with a Russian emphasis on the letter R. The pro-Palestinian demonstrators gave him a break, and it seemed hardly any analyst considered it necessary to raise the subject of Lieberman's views on Arab Israelis.
"I came here from Europe, and the meetings there were accompanied by a great deal of local media attention. We emerged out of that a lot better than we had thought. Our campaign is over," the foreign minister said.
However, in spite of his calming words, at the joint press conference with Clinton, the settlement issue highlighted the divide, particularly when Lieberman declared that Israel will retain "natural growth" in the settlements. Clinton responded strongly: "We want to see a stop to the settlements. We think that is an important and essential part of pursuing the efforts leading to a comprehensive peace agreement."
Clinton said there were "no informal or oral enforceable agreements" on the issue, which "has been verified by the official record of the Bush administration and personnel in positions of responsibility," countering Israel's insistence that tacit agreement with the U.S. under the previous administration were reached on settlement growth.
Although acknowledging the process is in its initial stages, Clinton pointed out that there have been Prime Minister's who did change their initial positions.
Lieberman said that although "I know I am disappointing many people, I see from here precisely what I saw from there. There are many issues that at this moment are on the negotiating table between us and the U.S., at least 20 different points, and I think that on 19 of them we have understanding and agreement. No one is interested in deepening the differences. It is impossible to prepare a 200-page contract with all the commas in place ahead of time. We do not intend to trick anyone, we do not intend to alter the demographics of Judea and Samaria and build new settlements - but we are also not willing to choke our people."
Lieberman also enjoyed the support of a few in Congress, including Republican Whip Eric Cantor, the only Republican Jew in Congress, who said that he opposed U.S. President Barack Obama's stance on settlements, because "Israel does what it must in order to provide security to its population."
Referring to the posters in Israel of Obama wearing a kaffiyeh (a traditional Arab headress), Lieberman was firm: "Where I live, I have not seen such posters. There is a phenomenon with people on the extreme periphery, and we saw this, unfortunately, on several occasions since the Oslo Accords, and it deserves all condemnation - these are people who do not learn and cause enormous damage to the national camp. I can only condemn this."
By Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz U.S. Correspondent
Источник: Haaretz
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