JERUSALEM — Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman declared Wednesday that the new government would not be bound by a U.S.-backed understanding to work toward establishing a Palestinian state.
His remark outraged Palestinian leaders and highlighted sharp disagreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the Obama administration.
Netanyahu long has opposed the idea of a sovereign Palestinian state. Taking office late Tuesday, the conservative leader offered instead to work for a permanent agreement on limited Palestinian self-rule.
The ultranationalist Lieberman’s speech was blunt and openly hawkish. He warned against broad concessions to the Palestinians, saying they “only bring pressure and more wars.” He dismissed a declaration made at a 2007 peace conference that committed both parties to further “the goal of two states.”
The 2007 statement was agreed to by then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
“It has no validity,” Lieberman said of the declaration. “The Israeli government never ratified Annapolis, nor did parliament.”
Abbas spokesman Nabil abu Rdainah said Lieberman’s statement represents a threat to regional stability. He said the Obama administration “should take a clear position against this policy before things get worse.”
A U.S. official accompanying President Barack Obama to the Group of 20 summit in London said, “It remains our view that a two-state solution . . . is in our interests and the region’s interests.”
