FM's advisor: Israeli leftists caused 'Flightilla' damage

Ishmael Khaldi says leftists' behavior, not foreigners, hurt Israel's image, came close to damaging Israeli state security.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
pro-palestinian activists at airport_311 reuters (photo credit: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters)
pro-palestinian activists at airport_311 reuters
(photo credit: Ronen Zvulun / Reuters)
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Arab affairs advisor said that Israeli leftists, not foreign activists caused the most damage in the recent fly-in protest dubbed "Flightilla" by media outlets, Army Radio reported on Sunday.
Ishmael Khaldi, a Lieberman advisor, told career Army soldiers in a closed meeting that Israeli leftists "behaved in a way that borders on damaging the security of the state," according to the report.
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"Those that caused damage to our image in the 'Flightilla' events were not foreign activists," the Lieberman advisor said, "they were leftists from Israel."
Khaldi also addressed the Arab Spring, denying that the revolutions taking place are democratic, instead saying that they are popular protest against dictatorial regimes against a backdrop of harsh economic conditions.
"Israel is the strongest country in the the Middle East," he said, and it does not need to feel threatened by the turmoil in the region.
Addressing the Palestinian plan to seek statehood recognition in the United Nations this September, Khaldi said such a plan would be breaking every bilateral agreement between the two sides. "Such a decision will create false expectations, it won't bring any political benefit to Palestinians and will cause increased frustration."