Lieberman accuses Palestinians of violating Oslo Accords

FM slams attempts to "unilaterally create facts on the ground" as Hungarian counterpart says "time is pressing," talks "remain the core issue."

By ASSOCIATED PRESS, JPOST.COM STAFF
Lieberman EU 311 AP (photo credit: Associated Press)
Lieberman EU 311 AP
(photo credit: Associated Press)
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday accused the Palestinians of "violating the Oslo Accords," during a meeting with European Union foreign ministers.
"Anyone who really wants to boost ties between Israel and the Palestinians must first condemn the Palestinians, and clarify that their attempts to unilaterally create facts on the ground won't be successful."
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Lieberman, who is holding talks with the EU as part of a decade-old association agreement, was referring to recent attempts to garner support for a Palestinian state.
The European Union told Israel that growing instability in the Middle East makes it imperative to immediately resume the stalled peace process with the Palestinians.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, whose country currently chairs the EU, told Lieberman on Tuesday that "time is pressing" and that the Israeli-Palestinian talks "remain the core issue."
Lieberman also said it was important to resume direct peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.
Lieberman left Sunday for Brussels for a meeting with the EU’s foreign ministers where he was participating in the EU-Israel Association Council meeting, along with some 27 EU foreign ministers. The Association Council is the central forum governing Israel-EU relations.
The EU message came as the PA negotiator Nabil Shaath said on Monday said that he believes that regime change in the Arab world will strengthen regional support for the Palestinian cause.
Some Palestinian officials, however, expressed fear that the events in Egypt would hurt the Palestinians because of Cairo’s preoccupation with domestic affairs.
“The weakness of the Arab position was one of the reasons behind the imbalance between Palestine and Israel,” Shaath said, at the same time ruling out the possibility that the PA would return to the negotiating table with Israel under the current circumstances.
Herb Keinon and Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report