Livni: Bennett, anti-peace camp leading Israel to a bi-national state
Justice minister attacks Bennett's plan to annex Area C as "the end of Zionism"; defends meeting with Abbas in London, saying that talking to Palestinians is necessary despite cancellation of negotiations.
By JPOST.COM STAFFNafatali Bennett and Tzipi Livni(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday attacked those of her coalition partners who "do not want a peace agreement and are doing everything they can to torpedo diplomatic efforts."Speaking at a conference in Eilat, Livni said that "this same group and its leaders must tell Israel's citizens the truth: that they are leading us to a bi-national state."Livni rejected as "the end of Zionism" Naftali Bennett's proposal to annex Area C of the West Bank, give the Palestinians autonomy and knock down the security barrier."At the end of the day, two-and-half million Palestinians will become citizens of this one state between the [Mediterranean] Sea and the [Jordan] River, a state that will not be Israel," Livni said.Livni also rejected Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz's proposal to annex Gush Etzion, Ma'aleh Adumim and Giv'at Ze'ev to Jerusalem.She said that the proposals by both Bennett and Katz would have "tragic" effects on Israel and accused them of trying to score points with those against a peace agreement by floating proposals that they know will never be carried out.Livni said that she supported keeping the settlement blocs in Katz's plan as part of Israel in a peace deal, but his proposal serves to cheapen the Jewish connection to Jerusalem in the eyes of the international community.The Justice minister defended her meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in London last week, rejecting claims that the meeting contradicted Israel's decision to halt negotiations in the face of Fatah's unity deal with Hamas."We are currently in a waiting period. We decided to cancel negotiations. But canceling negotiations does not constitute a boycott of the other side. To embargo the other side is stupid, when we are still here, and they are still here, and the conflict remains. We must listen and be heard in order to make decisions," Livni stated.
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