Israel Inside Line: Lieberman's "Enough" Declarations

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Saturday roared at an ambassadors conference held at the Foreign Ministry. Referring to an interview with the Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas who had said that unilateral IDF actions, including the killing of the three Palestinians, had caused him to reconsider the current joint security pact; Lieberman said: "We have paid enough. We have made many gestures and received nothing in return."

At the same conference, he implicitly targeted Israel's ambassador to Turkey, Gaby Levy, who has been keeping a low profile not to increase tension between two allies and making efforts to mend ties between them. Lieberman said:

Video: Israel’s Tension Within — The Gaza Argument on Channel 1

The era of groveling is over. I have seen several ambassadors whose identification with the countries where they are posted is so great they are constantly trying to justify [to Israel] the other side's point of view. This stance is wrong. There should not be an attitude of groveling and self-effacement.

We will not look for friction and confrontation but we will also not turn the other cheek. For every action there will be a reaction and this is the policy I demand from the ambassadors.

On Sunday morning, Lieberman warned Abbas regarding his statement in the interview. He spoke to Israel Radio:

We've made a series of gestures to Abbas, including [Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's policy speech at] Bar Ilan, the removal of West Bank roadblocks, the settlement construction freeze and allowing him to hold the Fatah conference in Bethlehem. We've made enough gestures.

[And yet] I have heard Abbas recently threatening to end security cooperation with Israel. He's the only one who would lose out from that, both personally and from the point of view of the PA.