Netanyahu Talks Peace But Coalition Partners Have Other Ideas

Lieberman Blasts 'Delusional' Peace Talks

The “Palestinian issue” seems almost certain to get punted down the road by the incoming, settler-friendly coalition, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu felt the need to give some lip-service to the idea anyhow today, insisting Israel is will to make “concessions” in exchange for a peace deal.

Netanyahu is likely speaking for himself and few others in the coalition, however, and incoming Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (whose appoint is on hold pending criminal charges) blasted the talk of a peace deal as “delusional.”

Lieberman, whose Yisrael Beiteinu bloc rejects peace on general principle, has promised that he will block any attempts to freeze the expansion of settlements into Palestinian territory, the one concession the Palestinians really are insisting on.

The entire matter is academic at any rate, since Lieberman isn’t the only personal capable of downing the coalition over a serious peace effort. Naftali Bennett, the head of Jewish Home, is also capable of doing so, and has insisted that occupied territories, including the Gaza Strip, were given to Israel by God and can never be allowed to host an independent Palestine.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.