printAvigdor Lieberman, Israel’s new foreign minister, has given his maiden speech, which has left Daniel Pipes elated. It’s hard to disagree, given that it was through strength that Menachem Begin, a hardliner Likudnik, made peace with Egypt. “Here are some of the topics Lieberman covered in his 1,100-word stem-winder”:
Egypt: Lieberman praises Cairo as “a stabilizing factor in the regional system and perhaps even beyond that” but puts the Mubarak government on notice that he will only go there if his counterpart comes to Jerusalem.
Repeating the word “peace”: Lieberman poured scorn on prior Israeli governments: “The fact that we say the word ‘peace’ twenty times a day will not bring peace any closer.”
The burden of peace: “I have seen all the proposals made so generously by Ehud Olmert, but I have not seen any result.” Now, things have changed: “the other side also bears responsibility” for peace and must ante up.
The Road Map: The speech’s most surprising piece of news is Lieberman’s focus on and endorsement of the Road Map, a 2003 diplomatic initiative he voted against at the time but which is, as he puts it, “the only document approved by the cabinet and by the Security Council.” He calls it “a binding resolution” that the new government must implement. In contrast, he specifically notes that the government is not bound by the Annapolis accord of 2007 (“Neither the cabinet nor the Knesset ever ratified it”).
Implementing the Road Map: Lieberman intends to “act exactly” according to the letter of the Road Map, including its Tenet and Zinni sub-documents. Then comes one of his two central statements of the speech:
Read the rest here.
Once again an Israeli Prime Minister who understand you stand up and hold others accountable for their actions! “The fact that we say the word ‘peace’ twenty times a day will not bring peace any closer.” Would someone send that sentence to Mr. Obama daily until he understands?
We need to find a leader such as Avigdor Leiberman in and for the United States of America.
Would that the now defunct Bush Administration had had an ounce of this kind of horse sense during its last four years of existence, instead of pandering to the Palestinians.
Even better, perhaps the Obama Administration can begin making midnight calls to Lieberman for advice on how to respond to various crises.