Senior Israeli officials have been sounding threatening messages aimed at the Palestinian Authority, against the background of the Palestinians' intention to apply to the United Nations in a week's time for recognition of a Palestinian state. Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman said today, "I see no place for threats, but I can say for sure that if the Palestinians go for a unilateral decision at the United Nations, that will have severe and harsh consequences. We will not accept a move like that quietly."
Speaking at an agricultural conference at Kibbutz Revivim in southern Israel, Liberman gave no details of the measures Israel plans to take in response to such a unilateral move. Yesterday, however, his deputy, Daniel Ayalon, said that among possible reactive steps that Israel might take was annexation of settlement blocks. Liberman himself has declared in the past that annulment of the Oslo peace accords was among Israel's possible responses.
"We are eighteen years after the agreement at Oslo, and what have we not tried and done?" Liberman said today. "Recent Israeli governments have made concessions and generous gestures towards the Palestinians, and they have not brought peace. The result was the Second Lebanon War, Operation Cast Lead, and the severing of diplomatic relations with two Muslim countries. We cannot take all the blame only on ourselves. We got out of Gaza down to the last millimeter, and all these things are taken for granted, and not as gestures of goodwill. They are interpreted as weakness."
Minister of Home Front Defense Matan Vilnai also commented today on the Palestinians expected move, saying, "The Palestinians are making a huge mistake if they think that by applying to the UN for recognition for a Palestinian state they will gain something. They won't gain anything."
At a briefing for reporters at his office in the military headquarters compound in Tel Aviv, Vilnai added, "Behind the scenes, there are ramified diplomatic efforts to make the Palestinians call off the declaration of a state. There is real disagreement over the declaration of a state between Palestinian Authority President Abu Mazen and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. We are at the height of preparations for a declaration from the Palestinians, and we are ready for the outcome: the defense establishment is ready for all possibilities, even the most difficult scenarios. A process will begin in September, and it will not end on September 30, but will carry on further. I believe that if in the end something is to happen, it will not happen in September, but in October and November and afterwards."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 14, 2011
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