FM Liberman in Ariel: Abu Mazan cannot Deceive Us
Published on: November 14, 2012Today, Foreign Minister Liberman visited the Ariel University Center, together with Beytenu MK Alex Miller.
FM Liberman began by discussing Abu Mazzan’s plan to request statehood recognition by the UN on the 29th of November: “This Palestinian initiative is not in the least “Palestinian.” It is entirely personal. It’s not about a vision for the Palestinian people or their future. It’s about Abu Mazan’s trying to save himself. Abu Mazan has been a failure in every respect. The Palestinian Authority simply doesn’t exist. We have “Fatah-land” in Judea and Samaria and “Hamastan” in Gaza. Abu Mazan has not succeeded in the past two years to hold elections for the Palestinian parliament. In fact, in all domestic issues, he has not succeeded in the slightest. He has half a billion dollars in his personal bank account and a private jet. Abu Mazan has lost the support of the Palestinian street. And he looks around at the fate of his friends, such as Gaddafi, and decides on a course of political intimidation. It will achieve nothing. Even the Arab League knows that this is just some kind of political maneuvering. Abu Mazan is in distress. The recent political escalation is his attempt at personal political survival.
“Applying to the UN General Assembly crosses a red line. The State of Israel will not simply let it pass. Abu Mazan can neither deceive us nor interfere in our elections. The recent television interview with Udi Segel was the brainchild of Ahmad Tibi, who was present in the room the entire time. The idea was to give the Israeli Left and the Arab political parties some arrows for their quiver. Are we to believe that Abu Mazan suddenly changed his position by 180 degrees? We have clarified this matter with our friends around the world. If Abu Mazan’s application passes the UN General Assembly, Israel will have something to say about it,” said the Foreign Minister
Liberman also spoke about the upcoming elections and criticized Shelly Yecimovitch, chair of the Labor Party about her economic agenda, “It sounds like Shelly Yecimovitch took all of Lenin’s slogans. We need to make the pie bigger. We cannot simultaneously increase welfare programs and do away with the tycoons. This leads to bankruptcy. And how to we make the pie bigger? Take tourism for example: every 100,000 tourists bring in $200 million and hundreds of jobs. “
Regarding Israel’s response to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the minister said, “All the chatter in the media about whether Israel will or should attack Iran is chatter. When we wanted to take action against the Syrian nuclear reactor or the Iraqi reactor, we didn’t hold a public forum on the matter. Let’s be very clear, the cabinet makes these decisions, and they are not up for public debate. So far, we have done much to restrain Iran. The sanctions are the fruit of the diplomatic efforts of the State of Israel. If we come to the point that we believe that we have to act, we will. If we decide that the best thing is to let the political process run its course, then we’ll wait. When you go to the polls, you know upon whom you can rely.”
