WHY YISRAEL BEITEINU REMAINS OUTSIDE THE COALITION
When prodded as to why he with his party were not part of the current coalition, Liberman explained that during the coalition negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the last election, he made three demands.
Yisrael Beiteinu’s first demand was that Hamas must be eliminated from power. The second demand was that construction activity in Jewish neighborhoods such as Gilo, Talpiyot and Ramot must be increased. “Why isn’t this happening?” Liberman asks with an edge.
The third Yisrael Beiteinu requirement was that construction activity in settlement blocs, certainly those everyone recognizes – even the PA when they are being honest – will remain part of Israel no matter what. Those include Gush Etzion, Maale Adumin and Ariel.
This third point glides into a brief foray into politics. Liberman finds unforgivable Prime Minister Netanyahu’s willingness to simply allow to pass the refusal of U.S. President Barack Obama to honor the written commitments in the exchange of letters between former U.S. President George W. Bush to Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. That commitment would allow Israeli building in the “already existing major Israeli populations centers ” as a quid pro quo for the traumatic and massive withdrawal of all Jews – living and dead — from the Gaza Strip, prior to the “Disengagement” in the summer of 2005. Israel’s control over the territory in the Gaza Strip was acquired by Israel in a defensive war which under international law is virtually always recognized as granting sovereignty to the victor in such a situation.
Liberman considers the absence of a true Foreign Minister in the current government as a serious problem. When Liberman himself held that position he was deeply invested in and was successful at developing relations with many countries in Africa and in eastern and central Europe, “friendly countries which had been neglected for many years.”
He pointed to a concrete positive result from cultivating those relationships: during Operation Protective Edge, the United Nations allowed Israel to continue fighting for 51 days in large part because of the “yes” votes from two somewhat surprising countries, Rwanda and Lithuania. Liberman believes there are many countries whose “number one priority is on developing their economy,” and those countries are pre-disposed to favoring positive relations with Israel.
“The trade balance between Israel and Azerbaijin is larger than it is between Israel and France,” Liberman informed us. If he were still heading the Foreign Ministry Liberman said he would be focusing on Africa, both for security reasons and because of the enormous opportunities for trade and development partnerships. Perhaps responding to quizzical glances, Liberman continued, “Why Africa? Just look at how much time the head of China, in particular, but also, the presidents of France and of the United States have spent there. Why shouldn’t Israel?”
HOW TO FIGHT TERRORISM AND WHY ISRAEL IS NOT NOW SUCCEEDING
Finally, inevitably, the talk turned to the current wave of terrorism afflicting Israel. Again Liberman takes a swipe at the current leadership, claiming there is “no leadership, it is directionless, with only a policy to survive.”
Liberman explains that “all terror has three sources: ideological and incitement; financing and operative commanders. This government is just going after the low level operatives instead of targeting and destroying all three sources.”
This folds back into the discussion of Hamas, and Yisrael Beiteinu’s first precondition for entering the coalition: breaking Hamas. Liberman claims that Netanyahu “gave Hamas leadership immunity, guaranteeing there would be no targeted assassinations.” But, Liberman says, the real push behind the current terror wave “is from Hamas, which is the ideological source of the terror.”
THE ‘PEACE PROCESS’
And as for the “peace process?” “The ‘peace process’ is an illusion. So many people have been brainwashed to believe that the Arab-Israeli conflict is the single destabilizing force in the Middle East.” But it is hard for Liberman to comprehend why those otherwise intelligent people hang on to that misconception, given what they cannot ignore is happening now across the Middle East.