Liberman tells lawmakers to pipe down about West Bank annexation

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman sharply criticized those calling for Israel to annex parts of the West Bank, saying they play for headlines, damage Israeli diplomacy, and should use a more subtle approach.

Liberman made the comments during meeting for activists of his Yisrael Beytenu party in the central city of Petah Tikva Tuesday night.

They came a day after the Jewish Home party leader, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, said he plans to introduce legislation this month that would extend Israeli sovereignty to the Jerusalem-area settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, repeating a vow he had made previously.

“We don’t need to try to provoke others,” said Liberman, who heads the right-wing Yisrael Beytenu party. “Everything that is done should be done quietly, with intelligence and determination.”

“When Begin passed the Golan Heights Law there were three readings in the same day without all the fanfare first,” he added referring to Israel’s annexation in 1981, under then prime minister Menachem Begin, of the northern plateau region it captured from Syria during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Liberman said constant crowing about applying sovereignty and other legislative measures relating to the West Bank “damages the settlement enterprise, damages our diplomatic efforts and helps our enemies.”

The minister, who himself lives in a West Bank settlement, accused other politicians of trying to grab political capital by talking about annexing parts of the West Bank without actually intending to do anything.

“Perhaps people will gain votes on the electoral level, but that gain is a diplomatic loss and damages the settlement enterprise,” Liberman said. “There is no intention to make anything happen and nothing will happen other than headlines for one day. To be serious you need to maintain a consensus. That is the difference between a pragmatic right and a dogmatic right.”

The Jewish Home party, which has led the drive for annexing Ma’ale Adumim and other settlements, noted in response that Liberman himself once proposed a bill to annex Ma’ale Adumim.

“Instead of talking and rambling, he should focus on stopping the wages for terrorists and deal with [Ismail] Haniyeh,” the party said according to Israel Radio, referring to a Hamas leader he had vowed to assassinate should the terror group shoot a rocket at Israel.

Bennett has long proposed that Israel annex the heavily Jewish parts of the West Bank, arguing that the creation of a Palestinian state in that area poses a threat to Israel’s existence.

In the wake of the recent Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity two weeks ago, Bennett ramped up calls to effectively annex large parts of the territory Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Israel has controlled the West Bank since capturing it in the 1967 Six Day War but has never moved to annex any of the territory beyond extending sovereignty to East Jerusalem. It later applied Israeli law to the Golan Heights, captured from Syria.

Most experts see Israel’s policy of extending sovereignty, in moves widely unrecognized by the international community, as tantamount to annexation.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.