Israeli ultranationalist sworn in as defense minister

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet today approved the entry of ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman to the ruling coalition as defence minister, after defusing opposition from another partner, the government said.

In a third case evidence was produced to indict three people: Sara Netanyahu, Ezra Saidoff, the deputy director general of the prime minister’s office and Avi Fahima, a former Likud Central Committee member who has been close to the prime minister for years and often did work at the Caesarea residence in the years when Netanyahu was out of office.

In a statement Tuesday, he said Israel was asked to immediately implement signed agreements and to commit to worldwide law, the UN Security Council, the General Assembly, and the Arab Peace Initiative. “The Israeli right has the ability to initiate the peace process, but we ask that all Israelis believe in peace with the Palestinian people”.

“Netanyahu had a two-pronged commitment to Sisi: to carry out acts on the ground that demonstrate Israel’s commitment to the two-state solution, and recognize the 2002 Arab Initiative as the de facto basis for negotiations, with the required ‘alterations.’ There is also a second side to this promise that, according to Netanyahu, is still valid: The Egyptians committed themselves, together with other Sunni states, to convene an worldwide conference in Cairo that would jump-start the process – mainly renewal of the bilateral negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians and turning the Arab Peace Initiative into a working plan”, Caspit explains.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s choice of the hardline Lieberman to head the defence ministry has caused alarm among moderates in Israel and has been openly questioned by the United States.

But Netanyahu’s comments come with the veteran premier under pressure over a French plan to hold an global peace conference, which Israel strongly opposes and the Palestinians support. He is the first Russian-speaking Israeli to hold the role.

“That is a way of signalling to the worldwide community: we are not as bad as you think we are”.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister declined to discuss what changes Israel might seek in the initiative, which speaks of a “just solution” for Palestinian refugees but whose terms were softened in 2013 to include possible land swaps between Israel and the Palestinians.

While some accused Netanyahu of creating a smokescreen by mentioning the old initiative, others said that, whatever his motivation, progress should not be ruled out.

“There are reasons to be cynical, but if Netanyahu and Liberman are looking to move away from the status quo, then this could help put off worldwide efforts to impose a solution”, Gerald Steinberg, a Bar-Ilan University political scientist, said by phone. Palestinians, along with many others, say this is making it increasingly hard to negotiate a viable Palestinian state. “Will he have a partner?”

The 59-year-old has always been known for extremist rhetoric, such as suggesting during the 2015 election campaign that Israeli Arabs who are not clearly loyal to the state should be beheaded.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi two weeks ago made a rare address directed towards both the Israelis and Palestinians, in which he said that there was now a “real opportunity” for an Israeli-Palestinian deal that could lead to warmer ties between his country and Israel.

On Tuesday, he told army brass that national unity was more important that holding onto territory, as he vowed to prevent unnecessary future conflicts and end ongoing “wars of attrition”.