Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday urged Mahmoud Abbas to quit his post, arguing that the Palestinian president represents an obstacle to a peace deal, DPA reported.
Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem, Lieberman said suggestions made by Abbas that he might step down should be seen as a blessing rather than a threat.
"I wish he would finally do so. Whoever comes in his stead would be better," Lieberman declared.
He accused the Palestinian leader of being interested only in his own personal agenda and in his place in the history books, which, while "very human, does not help us reach an agreement."
"He wants to be remembered as the man who established a Palestinian state and reached internal reconciliation (with other Palestinian groups," Lieberman charged.
The Israeli foreign minister, who leads the ultra-nationalist Yisrael B'Teinu party in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government, has made no secret of his skepticism of the chances of reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians at the present time.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been frozen for over a year, amid Palestinians demands that Israel stop all construction in its West Bank settlements and in East Jerusalem before talks can resume.
Netanyahu has rejected such a demand, saying the talks should resume without preconditions.
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