FM Liberman: I'm telling you here on the air, and I've said this dozens of
times - we're willing to sit down with the Syrians today, this afternoon or
this evening, face to face, and start talking. He is again the one making
stipulations. Assad wants to end his international isolation, but each time
he makes additional conditions. He should say at the start that he's
prepared to give up the Golan Heights - without that there's no point in
negotiating - and in the meantime he continues to get closer to Hugo Chavez,
to the Iranians and to North Korea.

Interview with FM Liberman on IDF Radio
We will make every effort to start the political process without conceding
any of our vital interests.
(Translated from Hebrew) Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Razi Barka'i: Good morning to Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman. You met
with Hillary Clinton yesterday before she appeared at a press conference and
said that the proposal made to her by the government of Israel regarding the
settlements was unprecedented. Do you agree?
FM Liberman: I agree with the fact that we will make every effort to start
the political process without conceding any of our vital interests. That is
exactly what we told the Palestinians, Hillary Clinton and the Europeans.
Barka'i: Yes, but the term "vital interests" is a flexible one, and it
surprises me that you do not consider the settlements of vital interest.
FM Liberman: I say that it is a vital interest, so we have not made any
concession, and I've also said that on the air with you, I believe. At
present we do not want to change the demographic balance in Judea and
Samaria, but we must enable the residents to have a normal lifestyle there -
as a right, not as a favor.
Barka'i: Let's face it, we're all trying to gain time - us, the Americans
and the Palestinians. Nothing will happen before January because just before
an election no one wants to come out looking foolish. Abu Mazen will not
soften his positions any more than he has already done, right?
FM Liberman: Actually, none of them are trying to gain time. To the
contrary. From the first day that we met, we said that we are prepared to
enter direct negotiations without preconditions. We made no stipulations
about any freeze, or freezing construction in the eastern part of the city.
Incidentally, with regard to the Palestinians, I don't ever remember the
government of Abu Mazen or previous Palestinian administrations making
stipulations for conducting negotiations, either vis-à-vis the Olmert
administration, the Sharon administration or the Barak administration. To
the contrary. A political process was conducted while the building in Judea
and Samaria continued. So this new stipulation tells us about the intentions
of the Palestinians.
Barka'i: The question, Mr. Liberman, is whether we really and truly want to
embark on a peace process. After all, you yourself, the Prime Minister and
the Minister of Defense really think that Abu Mazen is not capable of
delivering the goods, and even if he does, it will only be on the West Bank
and not in the Gaza Strip.
FM Liberman: Look, I'm on the air now. You don't have to interpret what I
say, and I usually express myself very clearly. I am saying to you on the
air right now, that I am in favor of a political process. It must take place
along with all the effort to improve the situation on the ground. Are you
asking me whether, in the coming years, we can achieve a comprehensive peace
agreement with the Palestinians which will signify the end of the dispute,
the absence of mutual claims in the future, the cessation of all kinds of
incitement, both in the schools and in the international arena by the
Palestinians? Can it be achieved in the next few years? No.
Barka'i: So what happens in the meantime? An interim agreement?
FM Liberman: I think that a long-term interim agreement is the clearest and
best thing that we can achieve.
Barka'i: During which there is a state.
FM Liberman: Excuse me, but I'll say again, it is no coincidence that over
the previous 16 years we had prime ministers who really and truly did
everything to achieve peace. Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, and
Ehud Olmert all made far-reaching proposals, in effect going back to the
1960 borders and dividing Jerusalem, and twice the Palestinians turned it
down.
Barka'i: In the framework of this interim agreement, will there be a
Palestinian state?
FM Liberman: An interim agreement says very clearly that there is no
Palestinian state.
Barka'i: So what agreement is there?
FM Liberman: The Palestinian state is the end of the process and not the
middle of the process. On the Roadmap, there were also three stages with 40
items, and only at the end does it mention the establishment of a
Palestinian state. Can we do that now? After all, Abu Mazen claims that he
represents the entire Palestinian people. He, himself, can't even enter
Gaza. We would pay the full price for half the goods.
Barka'i: So maybe you should focus all your energies on the northern border
and put everything into renewing negotiations with the Syrians, through our
Turkish friends or through other friends?
FM Liberman: I'll tell you once again, if we indicate that it is only in our
interests, we won't achieve anything. I think that both the Palestinians and
the Syrians certainly have a far greater interest than we do in reaching a
peace agreement.
Barka'i: Last week, Assad said unequivocally, "My people want peace tomorrow
morning. I am prepared to renew negotiations."
FM Liberman: We have also said a dozen times that we are prepared to meet
with Assad tomorrow or the day after that.
Barka'i: Face-to-face?
FM Liberman: Face-to-face.
Barka'i: But not through an intermediary.
FM Liberman: Not through an intermediary and certainly not through threats,
and not while they are talking peace yet acting in the most hostile manner
possible. Syria is continuing to smuggle weapons to Hizbullah, it is
continuing to strengthen Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, which are located in
Damascus, and it is continuing its incitement against us in every
international forum.
Barka'i: Well, those are the cards they have to play. Avigdor Liberman, if
we're talking about the absence of preconditions, before the negotiations
you can't come to them with preconditions either. Sit down with them and
demand at the beginning that they stop doing it.
FM Liberman: I'm telling you here on the air, and I've said this dozens of
times - we're willing to sit down with the Syrians today, this afternoon or
this evening, face to face, and start talking. He is again the one making
stipulations. Assad wants to end his international isolation, but each time
he makes additional conditions. He should say at the start that he's
prepared to give up the Golan Heights - without that there's no point in
negotiating - and in the meantime he continues to get closer to Hugo Chavez,
to the Iranians and to North Korea.
Barka'i: Okay. Is it true that you planned to shoot a nuclear missile at
Gaza, as the Prime Minister of Turkey said? What did he base that on? Is
there something that you said?
FM Liberman: What's happening in Turkey and what needs to be understood is
not connected to the State of Israel. We always blame ourselves for all the
problems in the world. There has been a dramatic turnaround from the secular
Turkey of Ataturk to the Muslim Turkey of Erdogan, and that is reflected not
only in our arena. We think that everything revolves only around us. Two
weeks ago I saw the latest report of the European Union on the subject of
Turkey. The report is really grave by any standards, on the subjects of
freedom of expression, suppression of journalists and the critical press,
the attitude of the Turks to negotiations in Cyprus - and a thousand and one
other parameters. Recent statements that we have heard from Turkey, as well
as that warm embrace of the Iranians in Tehran, with Ahmadinejad - with
those kind of things, we cannot just go back to business as usual.

1 Nov 2009
MFA Website