Lieberman: Jewish Towns Not an Obstacle to Peace

I have always found the antagonism against Jews who live in settlements to be hypocritical. There seems to be this idea that Jews have no right to live on Middle Eastern land, but that Arabs do. This distasteful attitude implies no hope for coexistence between Jews and Arabs if a tiny settlement is considered to be such a threat. There are plenty of Muslim settlements within Israel that non-Muslim Israelis can't even approach. No one seems to complain about this. Palestinian leaders themselves have expressed their unwillingness to accept Israel or the Jewish presence in the Middle Eastern region (which was contiguous since biblical times).

Avigdor Lieberman, who has earned a reputation for being brutally honest, explains the situation clearly. From Arutz 7:

Jewish cities in Judea and Samaria are no obstacle to peace, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday in a meeting with industrialists. Despite widespread misconceptions, Israel's conflict with the Arab world began before Israel gained control over Judea and Samaria during the Six Day War, he said.

"What was the situation prior to 1967? There was no Jewish settlement, and there was no peace. It was just like the situation today, the same exact tension, the same exact terrorism,” he stated.

Lieberman referred to Jewish settlement as “hityashvut,” avoiding the often derogatory term, “hitnachlut.”

While he expressed willingness to talk with the Palestinian Authority, Lieberman also said he was disappointed by the behavior exhibited by senior PA leaders. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his second-in-command Salam Fayyad have announced plans to charge Israel with war crimes.

"You can't have it both ways. You can't look to us for help, while at the same time turning to the Hague Court and accusing us of crimes against humanity,” Lieberman said. “That stands in opposition to every agreement we've signed.”

"We're not looking for conflict, we support dialogue and are working towards coexistence,” the foreign minister continued. “But the days of Israeli obsequiousness are over.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's meeting with United States President Barack Obama was highly successful, Lieberman told his audience. Israel and the U.S. are in agreement when it comes to several crucial regional issues, he said, including the need to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, the dangers posed by Iran's support for terrorism throughout the region and Israel's need to maintain an edge in the field of military technology.

Israel and the U.S. also share hopes for a peace deal with the PA, he said. “There is some disagreement over how to reach that goal, but we agree on the destination. The argument is over tactics alone.”

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- Nazism and Radical Islam
- The Forgotten Refugees