Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman stood by controversial statements he made last week in a speech on Tuesday, and he continued to speak bluntly regarding Israeli sovereignty and talks with the Arab world.
In his first speech last week as Foreign Minister, Lieberman said that Israel was not bound by the Annapolis conference agreements, which were never officially approved by the previous government. On Tuesday, he reaffirmed that statement and accused those who attacked him over the speech of “trying to give up Israel's national interests and national honor in favor of completely foreign concepts.”
Lieberman says Israel is bound by the Roadmap, which like Annapolis calls for the creation of a Palestinian Authority-led Arab state but which links the creation of such a state to the PA's willingness to fight terrorism.
The world “should not stand over us with a stopwatch,” Lieberman added, in what was seen as a response to recent international pressure regarding talks with the PA.
Israel will set its own diplomatic policy, Lieberman continued. “The policy we formulate will fit our world view, as the voters wanted in the elections,” he stated.
Diplomatic efforts and concessions made over the past 16 years have failed, he said. “We were not partners in the Olmert government... or Sharon's Disengagement government... These governments brought results that were the opposite of what they hoped for. Terrorism was not defeated, Hamas seized power, two Arab states – Qatar and Mauritania – cut ties with us. There is a regression and we're in a 16-year dead end,” he said.
After 16 years of failed diplomacy, “the world must be ready to hear new ideas,” Lieberman concluded.