FM: Israel can't be seen as Mideast's mistress forever

Ynetnews

The Yisrael Beiteinu party hosted its traditional Rosh Hashanah toast in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Foreign Minister and party chairman Avigdor Lieberman made a speech in which he addressed various issues on the agenda.

Lieberman opened with commenting on the vandalism of the Latrun Monastery, which was discovered earlier on Tuesday. "These 'price tag' acts, carried out by a bunch of lunatics, are intolerable. This is an insult to the State of Israel and the Jewish people," he said.

The foreign minister also addressed the issue of nuclear Iran, in stating: "If Iran eventually gains nuclear ability, it will signify the demise of every agreement pertaining to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. This will result in a crazy arms race in the entire Middle East, with destructive repercussions."

Lieberman added that Israel was concerned with nuclear weapon reaching the hands of terror organizations and extremists' groups. "That is why I believe the world must take into account the repercussions of a nuclear Iran," he concluded.

Relating to foreign ties, he said that Israel was having secret diplomatic meetings with other Middle East countries. "The State of Israel has become – forgive me for being blunt, I'm borrowing from someone who is well aware of the situation, Meir Dagan – the State of Israel cannot be the Mideast mistress that everybody enjoys, but no one actually wants to be involved with."

Lieberman also attacked the Palestinian Authority, saying that "killers in Israeli prisons are receiving a monthly pay of NIS 12,000 ($3,000) from the Palestinian Authority, which is under an economic crisis. If the killer is a resident of East Jerusalem, he gets extra; if he is an Israeli Arab, he gets more. That is clearly an encouragement of terror."

The party chairman added that his party, Yisrael Beiteinu, was "a key member of the government. We may not be the biggest in the coalition," he said, "but we are definitely the most disciplined."

In regards to the universal draft bill, slated to replace the Tal Law for drafting haredim into the IDF, Lieberman said: "We've started signing people to support the bill online, and will take out to the streets after the holidays for more signatures."