Last update - 00:00 28/10/2007
Lieberman sets party 'red lines' ahead of summit
By Mazal Mualem and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
As Israel prepares to stake out its negotiating position opposite the Palestinians as part of the upcoming Annapolis peace summit, Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) is due to present a list of demands, or "red lines", to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday detailing his party's conditions for remaining in the government.
Lieberman, who one week ago declared that his faction would quit Olmert's coalition should the two sides negotiate over the "core issues" of the conflict, will propose the deployment of NATO forces in the Palestinian territories in the event the Palestinian Authority's security appratus are unable to snuff out terrorism.
The minister's document also includes a sketch of the future borders of Jerusalem, specifically stipulating that Mt. Zion would remain under Israeli sovereignty. On the issue of refugees, Israel will not recognize the Palestinian "right of return" nor will it grant a symbolic repatriation of a limited number of refugees, Lieberman's document states.
The document, which was formulated jointly by Lieberman and Yisrael Beiteinu MK Israel Hasson, states that the final status agreement with the Palestinians must be based on a territorial exchange and mutual recognition of the need for two separate nation-states, according to Army Radio.
As such, Lieberman demands that any future deal signed with the Palestinians would include sole Israeli sovereignty over the holy sites in Jerusalem, Army Radio reported.
"As long as there are no negotiations on the core issues, there's no problem with staying in the government," Lieberman told Army Radio. "But we will not accept a situation where we have a serious discussion on the matter. If the conference lists the problems between the two sides, we have no problem with that, but as long as the Palestinians have not met their obligations to fight terror, it is wrong to move to the next stage and hold talks on the core issues."
Lieberman told Army Radio that the continued Qassam rocket fire from the Gaza Strip precludes substantive negotiations.
"We have an American and a Palestinian commitment [which states] that any discussion on diplomatic matters [is contingent upon] the Palestinian Authority fighting terrorism, dismantling terrorist organizations, and establishing a unified security agency," Lieberman told Army Radio. "In the meantime, the Palestinians are just trying to wiggle out of these commitments."
Olmert's ministers continued to weigh in on what precisely Israel should expect from the summit.
"The international peace conference in Annapolis is not an experimental labaratory and the Israelis are not guinea pigs," Public Security Minister Avi Dichter told a gathering organized by the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC in Philadelphia on Saturday night.
The summit, Dichter continued, should build "the corridor that will enable both sides to finally enter phase A of the road map, with all its implications for Israel and the Palestinians."
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