Arab MKs tell US lawmakers new Netanyahu gov’t an obstacle to peace
Ahmad Tibi, Taleb Abu Arar warn Democratic congressmen that Liberman appointment will hinder progress, urge US not to veto UN moves against settlements
Tamar Pileggi is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Joint (Arab) List Knesset Members Ahmad Tibi and Taleb Abu Arar on Saturday warned a delegation of visiting US congressmen that the coalition shake up that is set to see the ultra-nationalist Avigdor Liberman join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as defense minister is a major obstacle to negotiating a two-state peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.
The five-strong Yisrael Beytenu party headed by Liberman, a hard-liner who has previously referred to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as a terrorist, officially joined the coalition on Wednesday. Liberman is set to be appointed defense minister this week.
Tibi and Arar told five Democratic congressmen that Netanyahu’s new coalition was “not a partner for any kind of political settlement,” and implored the US not to veto a possible future UN Security Council resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Attending the Saturday meeting were Congressmen Daniel Timothy Kildee of Michigan, Luis Vicente Gutierrez of Illinois, Matthew Alton Cartwright of Pennsylvania, Henry Johnson of Georgia and Mark William Pocan of Wisconsin.
Last week, in a rare comment on the internal politics of a US ally, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Israel’s new right-wing coalition raises “legitimate questions” about the government’s commitment to a two-state solution. Toner said Washington had “seen reports from Israel describing it as the most right-wing coalition in Israel’s history.”
Liberman’s imminent arrival in the cabinet has raised concerns inside and outside of Israel that the government will shift further to the right, toughening its policies towards Palestinians.
In an effort to allay fears over his appointment, Liberman promised to act in a “responsible” manner while in office. During a joint press conference Wednesday with Netanyahu, Liberman also pledged his commitment to “peace and to a final status agreement, and to understanding between us and our neighbors.”
Netanyahu has continued to insist that he wants to negotiate peace with the Palestinians, and, at the Wednesday press conference, said: “My government remains committed to pursuing peace with the Palestinians and with all our neighbors. My policy has not changed. We will pursue every avenue for peace while ensuring the safety and security of our citizens.”
Earlier this month, a draft resolution by the Palestinian Authority was circulated to Arab countries and to some members of the Security Council as part of a push for UN action in support of the two-state solution. Later, however, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the UN effort will be put on hold to focus instead on the French proposal for a peace conference.
Diplomats said that France, Egypt and Saudi Arabia had discouraged the Palestinians from moving ahead with the proposed measure that would have put pressure on the United States to resort to a veto.
The Security Council failed in 2011 to adopt a draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements after the United States vetoed it.
During the Saturday meeting, Tibi and Arar, both members of the Joint List’s Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Committee, also condemned Netanyahu’s ongoing ban on ministers and Knesset members from visiting the powder keg Temple Mount holy site in Jerusalem.
The MKs said Netanyahu’s ban — what the prime minister described at the time as a bid to quell the recent surge in Palestinian violence — was an “arbitrary measure,” and noted that Jewish lawmakers were free to visit and worship at the adjacent Western Wall holy site.
Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, the site of the first and second Jewish temples and home to Islam’s third-holiest shrine, has been at the heart of the months-long unrest and violence. Current rules governing the site allow Jews to visit during set hours but not to pray there for fear of stoking tensions. Many Palestinians deny any Jewish connection to the area, and consider any Jewish presence at the mosque complex to be a provocation.
The French initiative for an multinational conference to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts is set to kick off June 3 in Paris with a meeting of foreign ministers from a range of countries, without the Israelis and Palestinians present.
According to the plan, another conference would then be held in the autumn, this time with the Israelis and Palestinians in attendance. The goal would be to eventually restart negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu has rejected the initiative, claiming the international conference was being used by the Palestinian leadership as a way to avoid direct talks with Israel.
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been frozen since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.
Times of Israel staff and Agencies contributed to this report.
