Lieberman: I want to be foreign minister

Israel Beiteinu chair tells US papers he would evacuate his home for real peace with Palestinians.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
liberman 248.88 ariel (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
liberman 248.88 ariel
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Israel Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman said that while he was capable of holding every government portfolio, he would like to serve as Israel's foreign minister. "I think I can hold every portfolio-defense, finance and Foreign Ministry. I think personally I'd like the foreign office," Lieberman was quoted as telling Newsweek in an interview published on Saturday. Asked whether he would continue the peace process if he joined Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu's government, Lieberman replied that while he is committed to peace, gradual steps were important. "You can't start with Jerusalem or the evacuation of the settlements. You must start with the security and the economy. You must strengthen the Palestinian Authority," the Israel Beiteinu leader reportedly said. In an interview published in the Washington Post, Lieberman said he is willing to evacuate his home in the settlement of Nokdim if a peace deal involving a two-state solution is reached with the Palestinians. However, he was quoted by the Post as saying that he believes the Palestinians do not support a two state solution but are interested in a one state solution for the Palestinians - from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean. Regarding a possible ceding of land to Syria in case a peace agreement is reached, Lieberman said that he did not see why Israel must give up the Golan Heights. "Even [Syrian] President Bashar Assad says that even if he receives the Golan Heights, he will continue his ties with Iran... Damascus is the center of world terror. All these organizations, [Islamic] Jihad and Hamas, their headquarters are in Damascus. Syria supports Hizbullah," he told Newsweek.