Avigdor Lieberman Doubtful about Israeli-Palestinian Peace

Avigdor Lieberman Says No Handshaking for Peace in the Near FutureFor my money, there can’t be any more interesting international political situation right now than the one going on between Israel and the Palestinians. Over 60 years ago Israel was re-created around Jerusalem and Jews from around the world were encouraged to move their and enjoy a peaceful homeland. The U.S. has long been a staunch ally of the new nation, offering every kind of military and diplomatic support possible. Aside from a few friends in college and a dedicated group of protestors outside the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland, there is little organized support in the news or the greater public consciousness for the Palestinian perspective. If you were to listen to the U.S. media tell the story, the Palestinians might very well equal terrorists in your mind- of course, the vast majority of the population is not part of or supportive of terrorism.

The borders of Israel with Palestinian territory, like the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, have been wrought with issues and violence for the entire existence of Israel- Israel wants to build settlements there to act as a buffer zone- Palestinians are upset because those areas aren’t part of Israel- Palestinians consider them occupied territory and was Israeli people and settlements gone and destroyed.

Add to all of that a complicated web of authority figures on both sides, some of which don’t even recognize the existence of some on the other side, and you have a diplomatic nightmare that presidents and U.S. diplomats have been trying to solve and wake up from almost since Israel first drew out its border.

Obama is no exception, and while his international diplomacy talk is high and mighty, so far his efforts with Israeli-Palestinian relations have fallen flat- in fact, the Israeli Foreign Minister just got quoted saying that there would be no peace between Israel and Palestinians for many years.

"Whoever says that it's possible to reach in the coming years a comprehensive agreement that means the end of conflict, that both sides sign on the end of conflict, simply doesn't understand the reality. He's spreading illusions and in the end brings disappointment and drags us into comprehensive confrontation," said Avigdor Lieberman, Foreign Minister of Israel.  

Lieberman says it will take many years to makes a comprehensive peace agreement, and others in the region, like Jordan, which has a peace treaty in place with Israel, say that that kind of thinking is damaging and incorrect. He is also verbally gearing up to meet with Obama soon:

"I will tell him clearly, there are many conflicts in the world that haven't reached a comprehensive solution and people learned to live with it. But together with this, people made the most dramatic decision. To give up using force. To give up terror. And to stop inciting against one another," said Lieberman.

So there you have it for now- Israel’s foreign minister says peace will take a long time and we should save the big issues for later. He’s basically saying go away and leave us alone- so fine, I say, leave him alone- no military, diplomatic or any other kind of help or support anymore- and then we’ll see how important peace talks are to the stability of the region.