Lieberman, who addressed a group at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, associated with the Brookings Institute, said Israeli citizens on both ends of the political spectrum need to learn that there are obligations as well as privileges connected with living in the Jewish State.
“Israel has the right to demand full allegiance from all its citizens,” the Yisrael Beiteinu party chairman said firmly. “He who is not ready to recognize Israel as a Jewish and Zionist state cannot be a citizen in the country. This applies to extremists of the Neturei Karta as well as to the extremist factions of the Islamic Movement.”
Lieberman has repeatedly criticized Israeli-Arab Knesset Members for declaring support for terrorist entities committed to the destruction of Israel and traveling to meet with leaders in enemy countries, such as Syria and Lebanon.
“Arab MKs who collaborate with the enemy and meet with Hamas leaders should be dealt with harshly,” Lieberman said last month. Speaking in Israel's parliament, he demanded the government punish Knesset Members “who incite and cooperate with terror and who sit in this house… who continue to freely meet with Hamas, with Hizbullah, and who go to make visits in Lebanon.”
In his remarks, which drew much criticism, Lieberman said such unauthorized meetings should be considered as collaboration with the enemy and treated as such: “At the end of the Second World War, not only criminals were killed in Nuremberg, but also those who collaborated with them. I hope this will be the fate of the collaborators in this house.”
He added that Arab MKs “declared Israel’s Independence Day as Nakba Day [Day of Disaster] and raised black flags. There is a directive on terrorism, according to which those who collaborate with it must face the law.”
Lieberman, who has been criticized by left-wing Knesset Members who slam what they refer to as his “racist” ideas, maintained that the U.S. government would never allow anti-American activities to be carried out by its government leaders.
“It is unacceptable that a senator or a representative in the American house of representatives assist Afghanistan during the war and meet with Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda leaders, express his support for their war against the U.S. – and then be allowed to return to serve in Congress,” he pointed out.
Lieberman also said there were a number of misconceptions surrounding the idea of a Middle East peace agreement. Among them he noted these ideas: "The notion that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the main fact of instability in the Middle East, the notion that the conflict is territorial and not ideological, and the notion that the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders will end the conflict.”
The leader of the increasingly powerful Russian immigrant party recommended separating Arabs and Jews in Israel altogether, based on the Turkish-Greek Cypriot model. In an interview published last month in the British-based Sunday Telegraph, Lieberman said it was the only way to achieve peace in the region.
Minister Lieberman is scheduled to present his views to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington on Monday.
“Israel has the right to demand full allegiance from all its citizens,” the Yisrael Beiteinu party chairman said firmly. “He who is not ready to recognize Israel as a Jewish and Zionist state cannot be a citizen in the country. This applies to extremists of the Neturei Karta as well as to the extremist factions of the Islamic Movement.”
Lieberman has repeatedly criticized Israeli-Arab Knesset Members for declaring support for terrorist entities committed to the destruction of Israel and traveling to meet with leaders in enemy countries, such as Syria and Lebanon.
“Arab MKs who collaborate with the enemy and meet with Hamas leaders should be dealt with harshly,” Lieberman said last month. Speaking in Israel's parliament, he demanded the government punish Knesset Members “who incite and cooperate with terror and who sit in this house… who continue to freely meet with Hamas, with Hizbullah, and who go to make visits in Lebanon.”
In his remarks, which drew much criticism, Lieberman said such unauthorized meetings should be considered as collaboration with the enemy and treated as such: “At the end of the Second World War, not only criminals were killed in Nuremberg, but also those who collaborated with them. I hope this will be the fate of the collaborators in this house.”
He added that Arab MKs “declared Israel’s Independence Day as Nakba Day [Day of Disaster] and raised black flags. There is a directive on terrorism, according to which those who collaborate with it must face the law.”
Lieberman, who has been criticized by left-wing Knesset Members who slam what they refer to as his “racist” ideas, maintained that the U.S. government would never allow anti-American activities to be carried out by its government leaders.
“It is unacceptable that a senator or a representative in the American house of representatives assist Afghanistan during the war and meet with Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda leaders, express his support for their war against the U.S. – and then be allowed to return to serve in Congress,” he pointed out.
Lieberman also said there were a number of misconceptions surrounding the idea of a Middle East peace agreement. Among them he noted these ideas: "The notion that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the main fact of instability in the Middle East, the notion that the conflict is territorial and not ideological, and the notion that the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders will end the conflict.”
The leader of the increasingly powerful Russian immigrant party recommended separating Arabs and Jews in Israel altogether, based on the Turkish-Greek Cypriot model. In an interview published last month in the British-based Sunday Telegraph, Lieberman said it was the only way to achieve peace in the region.
Minister Lieberman is scheduled to present his views to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington on Monday.