...

Israeli FM calls for clear diplomatic policy

Israel Materials 10 June 2014 02:36 (UTC +04:00)
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday slammed the absence of leadership in the Israeli government and stressed the need to form a clear diplomatic policy, local media reported.
Israeli FM calls for clear diplomatic policy

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday slammed the absence of leadership in the Israeli government and stressed the need to form a clear diplomatic policy, local media reported.

Lieberman referred to contradictory statements recently made by different ministers regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"What happened yesterday was grotesque, when four senior ministers gave public addresses one after another, each proposing a different political solution," he said.

Earlier on Sunday Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar all spoke about the conflict at the Herzlia conference.

"One minister talked about annexation, another minister spoke of deliberation, a woman minister spoke of segmentation and the last spoke of stagnation," Lieberman said.

"This is not a government policy. We need to cut down and adopt a single political plan to bind all parts of the coalition," he added, hinting at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lack of leadership so far.

Lieberman also took notice the rift between Bennett, who offered to annex West Bank settlements, and Lapid, who said his party would bolt the coalition if such a plan would be considered.

"The economy minister spoke of annexing settlement blocs and the finance minister threatened to disband the coalition. They both know they are talking about something that will never happen, " he said, calling annexation plans "unfeasible."

Lieberman said he believes in a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians as part of a bigger package of normalizing Israel's relation with the Arab world. But he did not refer to Israel's suspension of the peace talks with the new Palestinian unity government.

Latest

Latest