Barak, FM say Obama speech that of an ally to Israel
By JPOST.COM STAFF
LAST UPDATED: 09/21/2011 20:34
Livni says US president correct in assertion that only talks can bring peace; Hasson claims renewed peace talks would isolate Hamas.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak Photo: Reuters
Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday responded to US President
Barck Obama's speech at the UN General assembly, saying the address was
proof of the strong relationship between the American leader and
Israel.
Obama, speaking
during the opening day of the UN General assembly in New York, stated
that he supports the creation of a Palestinian state that takes into
account Israel's security needs, which can only be worked out through
the agreement of the two sides involved.
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"Once
again it's been proven to all the doubters, President Obama is an ally
and friend of Israel. The Obama administration gives backing to Israel's
security in a wide, all-encompassing and unprecedented manner," Barak
said in a statement.
Barak expressed hope that Obama's speech and developments at the
UN would lead to to the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.
The defense minister's sentiment was echoed by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman who also called Obama's address "the speech of an ally."
Lieberman told Israeli reporters in New York that the "path to peace is long and complicated" and not something that can be solved in the UN General Assembly or Security Council.
Opposition
leader Tzipi Livni also responded to the speech, saying Obama "displayed the main
points of the conflict in a balanced manner."
Livni said in a statement released shortly after the speech, "He was
correct in his statement that peace can be achieved only through direct
negotiations and not through UN decisions."
The Kadima leader called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to work to
break the impasse in the peace process with the Palestinians.
"The responsibility for a peaceful future with security for Israel's
children lies on the shoulders of the Israeli leadership and therefore
Netanyahu must immediately initiate a resumption of the diplomatic
process, not as a favor to the Palestinians but as a favor to us," she
said.
"The speeches at the UN will not change a thing on the ground and
renewing diplomatic negotiations will prevent decisions at the UN and
will prevent the isolation of Israel," Livni added.
Fellow Kadima
MK Yisrael Hasson also called on Netanyahu to resume peace talks with
the Palestinian Authority, and said that doing so would isolate Hamas,
which - according to Hasson - is waiting for the failure of Abbas's UN
process in order to prove that violent resistance is the only way to
achieve Palestinian independence.
The Kadima MK
said that Abbas went to the UN in hopes that the move would break the
deadlock in negotiations, and said he hoped that Netanyahu had gotten
that message.
