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Lieberman warns Syrian president, his family
 [Ma'an] Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened Syrian President Bashar Assad and his family on Thursday, speaking at a business forum hosted by Tel Aviv's Bar Ilan University. "If you declare war on Israel, you and your family will lose your reign," he said, according to a statement circulated by the university, which is considered among the more right-wing institutions in Israel. Lieberman was referring to a comment made yesterday by the Syrian president that Israel is not serious about its intentions to make peace with Damascus, as evidenced by "its conduct which is leading the region to war." The West Bank settler declared that Assad's statement had "crossed a red line." "We heard Defense Minister [Ehud] Barak's sincere call for peace with Syria, and we have now received Syria's answer. Whoever thinks territorial concessions will disconnect Damascus from the Axis of Evil is wrong," he asserted. He also denied any intention to begin indirect negotiations through US mediation with the Palestinians. "I say to Salam Fayyad and to Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas]: without direct negotiations, not only will there never be a Palestinian state, but you will also lose control of the West Bank, just like you lost control of Gaza." "The conflict with the Arab world still is no longer national, but rather religious, and no territorial compromise will work," he added. "Religious conflicts are not solved through territorial compromise. I don't know who Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad represent. When we conduct negotiations, I want to know who's on the other side. "There is nothing we haven't tried, from Camp David to Gush Katif, where we transferred nearly 10,000 Jews from their homes," the foreign minister alleged. "As compensation we received Hamas and terror. Nothing has changed since November 29th, 1947." He added: "Conciliatory rhetoric brings lies. I can't change the bitter reality with a sweet lie. Sixteen years went by from Oslo to the establishment [of] Netanyahu's second government. And what's happened? Nothing!" Lieberman insisted that "our biggest problem is reading comprehension -- you can't force peace. You must build peace. The correct order must be: security, economy, and only then peace." He also questioned the purpose of the Palestinian Authority, praising what he termed gestures to the Ramallah-based government, which maintains close dies to Israeli security agencies. "As of today, the Palestinian Authority isn't equipped to offer security and jobs. It isn't a stable entity which has the ability to reach a peace agreement. We must ensure our security. We've taken down checkpoints, we've allowed Fatah to establish a council in Bethlehem, we've instated a settlement building freeze on the West Bank -- we've made enough gestures," Lieberman said. "The same international community that has been preaching to us about morals, hasn't shown any success stories for itself -- not in Somalia, not in Yemen, not in Pakistan, and not in Afghanistan," he emphasized. Posted by: Fred 2010-02-05 |
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