Israel's Lieberman: Palestinian government 'illegitimate'

First Published: 2010-12-27

Lieberman says 'it is forbidden' for Israel to sign comprehensive peace deal with Palestinians.

Middle East Online

'A government that ... lost elections' JERUSALEM - Israel's fiery Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday that Israel should not sign a peace deal with the Western-backed Palestinian government because it is illegitimate. "It is forbidden for us to reach a comprehensive deal today with the Palestinians. To put it clearly, you have to understand that their government is not legitimate," he told a meeting in Jerusalem of Israeli ambassadors. Lieberman pointed to the fact that the government of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas had lost control of the Gaza Strip to rival Hamas and postponed elections after its term had expired. "It is a government that has postponed elections three times, that lost elections, that does not hold elections, does not plan to hold elections and there are no guarantees that next time they do hold elections, that Hamas won't win again," Lieberman said. He also said the Palestinians would reject any deal from Israel, no matter how generous, and that there were unbridgeable gaps on Israeli security issues. "Even if we offer the Palestinians Tel Aviv and go back to the 1947 borders, they would find reasons not to sign a peace deal with us," he said. The Palestinian Authority, dominated by Abbas's secular Fatah movement, has repeatedly postponed national and local elections, while Hamas has refused to let them be held in Gaza. Hamas, which won a landslide victory in the last parliamentary elections in 2006, has said there can be no new elections without reconciliation with Fatah. The Islamist movement seized power in Gaza in June 2007 when it ousted forces loyal to Abbas in a week of bloody street battles, the culmination of years of struggle between the two main Palestinian movements. The two groups struggled for months to reach a unity deal under Egyptian mediation but the efforts collapsed late last year when Hamas refused to agree to a proposal that was signed by Fatah. Lieberman, the hardline leader of the Yisrael Beitenu party, has been largely sidelined by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in peace talks with the Palestinians. Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the first for nearly two years, began in Washington on September 2 but quickly stalled when a 10-month Israeli settlements freeze expired on September 26. World may recognise Palestine soon With peace talks stalled, the "entire world" could recognise a Palestinian state within a year, a dovish Israeli cabinet minister warned Sunday, urging the resumption of negotiations. The comments from Industry and Trade Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer come after Ecuador formally recognised Palestine as an independent state on Friday, following the lead of other South American countries. Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia gave formal recognition earlier this month while Uruguay said it will do so early in the new year. "I would not be surprised if within a year the entire world, even the US, recognizes a Palestinian state, then we will have to explain how this happened," Ben Eliezer told reporters ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting. Israel opposes any recognition of a Palestinian state, saying its establishment must be reached through negotiations and not through unilateral moves. But with the breakdown of peace talks, the Palestinians have said they are considering new diplomatic options, and welcomed the recognition from the Latin American nations. Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the first for nearly two years, began in Washington on September 2. But they quickly stalled, when a 10-month Israeli settlement freeze expired on September 26. The Palestinians refused to resume negotiations without a new moratorium and on December 7 Washington admitted that it had failed to convince Israel to renew the building ban, despite offering a generous package of incentives. Ben Eliezer, from the dovish Labour Party, said Israel must do all it can to get talks back on track. "We must do all everything possible to renew talks with the Palestinians, even if it means a settlement freeze for a few months," he said. Palestinian negotiators have emphasised a set of alternatives to new talks, including seeking recognition of a Palestinian state along the borders that existed in 1967, before the Six Day War.