Lieberman: PA's rejection of Jewish State impedes peace

Foreign Minister shares with Finnish foreign minister fear that Palestinians will use Israeli Arabs to subvert legitimacy of Jewish State.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman gestures during (photo credit: AP)
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman gestures during
(photo credit: AP)
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb on Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority's refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish State represents a threat to continued peace talks.
"The forceful refusal of the Palestinian to recognize Israel as a Jewish State awakens the fear that it will not be possible to reach a final status agreement," Lieberman told Stubb.
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The two foreign ministers met at the Foreign Ministry building in Jerusalem on Tuesday to discuss recent development in the peace talks.
Lieberman added, "The Palestinians will try, through various groups among Israeli Arabs, to overturn the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish State, and will work to different autonomous areas within the state."
The foreign minister's comments joined those made earlier in the day by another senior government minister suggesting that chances were slim for reaching a final status peace agreement with the Palestinians anytime soon.
 "There is no chance in the coming years for a peace agreement with the Palestinians," Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon told Army Radio Tuesday morning.
"In the eyes of the Palestinians, the occupation started in '48 and not in '67. It is not only Hamas that thinks this way, but also [PA President Mahmoud Abbas]. They need to be released from this delusion, from not recognizing Israel as the home of the Jewish people, and from from their readiness to agree that an agreement will be the end of all mutual claims," he said in the interview.
He concluded, "They have no interest in having Israel as a neighboring state."