New Foreign Minister: Israel to Follow Roadmap, Not Annapolis
-Charles Levinson
On his first day as foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman said at a press conference, "There is one document that obligates us - and that's not the Annapolis conference, it has no validity." Lieberman said Israel would instead abide by the 2002 Roadmap for peace, which delays discussion of Palestinian statehood until after Palestinians clamp down on terror.
"Those who think that through concessions they will gain respect and peace are wrong," he added. "It's the other way around; it will lead to more wars."
(Wall Street Journal)
No Rejection of Two-State Solution -Eli Lake
Former Israeli Ambassador to Washington Daniel Ayalon, Israel's new deputy foreign minister, stressed that Lieberman and the new Israeli government support a two-state solution within the context of the Roadmap.
(Washington Times)
Avigdor Lieberman's Brilliant Debut -Daniel Pipes
Avigdor Lieberman became foreign minister of Israel yesterday. He celebrated his inauguration with a maiden speech that conclude[d] with a rousing call to fortitude:
"When was Israel at its strongest in terms of public opinion around the world? After the victory of the Six Day War, not after all the concessions in Oslo Accords."
I have had reservations about Lieberman and still do, but this speech has him off to a great start. Put as briefly as possible, he announced that 'Israel is back.'
-Charles Levinson
On his first day as foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman said at a press conference, "There is one document that obligates us - and that's not the Annapolis conference, it has no validity." Lieberman said Israel would instead abide by the 2002 Roadmap for peace, which delays discussion of Palestinian statehood until after Palestinians clamp down on terror.
"Those who think that through concessions they will gain respect and peace are wrong," he added. "It's the other way around; it will lead to more wars."
(Wall Street Journal)
No Rejection of Two-State Solution -Eli Lake
Former Israeli Ambassador to Washington Daniel Ayalon, Israel's new deputy foreign minister, stressed that Lieberman and the new Israeli government support a two-state solution within the context of the Roadmap.
(Washington Times)
Avigdor Lieberman's Brilliant Debut -Daniel Pipes
Avigdor Lieberman became foreign minister of Israel yesterday. He celebrated his inauguration with a maiden speech that conclude[d] with a rousing call to fortitude:
"When was Israel at its strongest in terms of public opinion around the world? After the victory of the Six Day War, not after all the concessions in Oslo Accords."
I have had reservations about Lieberman and still do, but this speech has him off to a great start. Put as briefly as possible, he announced that 'Israel is back.'
[Front Page Magazine]
UPDATES:
Who Killed Annapolis? -Editorial
Annapolis is dead - and everyone knows it. Annapolis has become just another footnote in the 100-year history of Palestinian rejectionism. It died when Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qurei rejected Ehud Olmert's and Tzipi Livni's offer last year of virtually the entire West Bank (the Palestinians already have Gaza), plus tracts of the Negev to make up for strategic settlement blocs retained beyond the "green line." Had the Palestinians taken this astonishingly magnanimous deal, "Palestine" would have become the 22nd Muslim Arab state in the Middle East.
The Annapolis process was a stab at leapfrogging over the Roadmap because the Palestinians could not - or would not - fulfill their obligation to end the violence. And the international community preferred the illusion of momentum Annapolis provided. The alternative would have been to concede that even "moderate" Palestinians are not prepared to follow through on the hard work necessary to achieve a two-state solution.
(Jerusalem Post)
UPDATES:
Who Killed Annapolis? -Editorial
Annapolis is dead - and everyone knows it. Annapolis has become just another footnote in the 100-year history of Palestinian rejectionism. It died when Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmed Qurei rejected Ehud Olmert's and Tzipi Livni's offer last year of virtually the entire West Bank (the Palestinians already have Gaza), plus tracts of the Negev to make up for strategic settlement blocs retained beyond the "green line." Had the Palestinians taken this astonishingly magnanimous deal, "Palestine" would have become the 22nd Muslim Arab state in the Middle East.
The Annapolis process was a stab at leapfrogging over the Roadmap because the Palestinians could not - or would not - fulfill their obligation to end the violence. And the international community preferred the illusion of momentum Annapolis provided. The alternative would have been to concede that even "moderate" Palestinians are not prepared to follow through on the hard work necessary to achieve a two-state solution.
(Jerusalem Post)
1 comment:
Mr. Lieberman is disliked by many. But he is hardly as you describe. He does not fit into the traditional right wing of Israel [as he is willing to trade land for real peace], nor into the traditional Israeli left [as he is unwilling to give away the shop]. There have been left wing Israelis who have suggested the same sort of land swaps.
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