In an arrogant response to the President of the United States Barack Obama recently, Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said neither Obama nor the United States has the right to interfere in the affairs of Israel. No one has the right to dictate terms to Israel because it is a sovereign state and its borders span across the Nile and the Euphrates, Liebermann added. The minister also boasted that two of the largest politico-religious movements in the world, namely, Christian Zionism and Jewish Zionism, have been supporting Israel.
The belligerent statement was issued after President Obama called on Israel to freeze settlement activities as a mark of good will between Palestine and Israel before they embark on peace talks.
Echoing the rhetoric of Lieberman, the Israel radio announced shortly after Obama's call that the country's budget allocated $250 million for settlements in the West Bank including new constructions and infrastructure development. The radio report added that $40 million has been allocated for the Adomim Height - the largest settlement to the east of Jerusalem - in the West Bank and $125 million for security arrangements."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, on the other hand, said while in Cairo, "Israel has certain reservations about the President Obama's statement demanding settlement freeze. There are also differences of opinion between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Obama over the implementation of the two states solution."
In an apparent attempt to soften Israel's tone of outright rejection to the US demand, Ehud Barak added that Israel continues its efforts to implement the US peace initiative despite the Israeli reservations about the American demand to freeze the settlements. "There is no serious difference between Obama and Netanyahu on core issues because our prime minister has affirmed his support to the US initiative for peace and creation of an atmosphere in which Israelis and Palestinians will live side by side in peace in a single country with mutual respect and good neighborliness, but rejecting anything that poses a threat to Israel's security."
The Israeli minister is, obviously, not honest in his statement. How can he hide the fact that his statement is diametrically opposite to the ground realities and he contradicts what his government has been doing all along.
A further proof to his lies is recent statement made by Yariv Oppenheimer secretary general of the Peace Now Movement that the actual number of investments in settlement programs in Palestinian lands was invisible in the budget as they are concealed under different other schemes and programs.
I wonder does the officials at the US Secretary of State, White House and the Pentagon, really believe the words of Netanyahu, Barak and Lieberman that they want peace.
