News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman gave an interview to Channel 2 over the weekend in which he said that his Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party would leave the government if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert discussed “core issues” during the planned Mideast peace conference in Annapolis.  “Core issues” include the borders of a potential Palestinian Authority state in Judea and Samaria, PA control over parts of Jerusalem, and the “right of return” to Israel claimed by millions of foreign descendants of Arabs who fled Israel in the 1940s.

Lieberman explained that he and Shas head Minister Eli Yishai were in agreement on the issue.  Yishai said Thursday that Shas would leave the coalition if Olmert made “any mention of Jerusalem” during the Annapolis conference.