Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman met with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday night to discuss a US-sponsored Mideast peace conference scheduled to take place in Annapolis in November. Lieberman told Rice that Israel should not make concessions during the conference due to the current political climate in Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Lieberman criticized the planned conference, saying, “A meeting in Annapolis at this time is a mistake. What’s the point of another conference if there is no practical result that Israelis and Palestinians will feel from day to day?” The conference should not be held until Israel has security in the entire country, including the area around Gaza, and the PA economy is stable, Lieberman said.