Avigdor Lieberman Roundup: Most Outlandish Public Statements

Israeli's new foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has been making the news almost daily for his often hawkish comments. Today he said Israel should shift its focus from the Palestinians to the Iranians, according to Press TV. "The biggest problem isn't the Palestinians, but the Iranians," he said.

The following is a quick roundup of Lieberman's most incendiary, offensive, reprehensible, obnoxious, abhorrent, heinous and invidious statements over the years. Lieberman has been described by the notable Hebrew University professor Ze'ev Sternhell as, "perhaps the most dangerous politician in the history of the state of Israel." The following are some of the windbag FM's most outrageous, but bear in mind that this list is by no means exhaustive.

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1. In 2002, following terrorist attacks on Israelis, Lieberman called for military attacks on Palestinian civilian and commercial targets, saying: "If it were up to me I would notify the Palestinian Authority tomorrow at ten in the morning we would bomb all their places of business in Ramallah, for example."..."I would not hesitate to send the Israeli army into all of Area A [the area of the West Bank ostensibly under Palestinian Authority control] for 48 hours. Destroy the foundation of all the authority's military infrastructure, all of the police buildings, the arsenals, all the posts of the security forces... not leave one stone on another. Destroy everything."

2. In 2003, following Sharon granting amnesty to 250 Palestinian prisoners, Lieberman called for mass executions, saying: " It would be better to drown these prisoners in the Dead Sea if possible, since that's the lowest point in the world."

3. In 2006, Lieberman called for the execution of Arab Knesset members who met with Hamas representatives, saying: "World War II ended with the Nurenberg trials. The heads of the Nazi regime, along with their collaborators, were executed. I hope this will be the fate of the collaborators in [the Knesset]."

4. Also in 2006, Lieberman declared explicitly that Jewish and Zionist values trump all others, saying: "The vision I would like to see here is the entrenching of the Jewish and the Zionist state...I very much favour democracy, but when there is a contradiction between democratic and Jewish values, the Jewish and Zionist values are more important."

5. In early 2009, during the Israeli "Cast Lead" incursion into Gaza, Lieberman made the historical argument that total nuclear destruction of a state is more economical than occupation, saying: "We must continue to fight Hamas just like the United States did with the Japanese in World War II. Then, too, the occupation of the country was unnecessary."

6. In April of 2009, Lieberman called for Israel to disregard past peace efforts, namely the Annapolis peace talks initiated under Bush, saying: "There is one document that obligates us -- and that's not the Annapolis conference, it has no validity."

For more HuffPost stories on Lieberman, go to the Avigdor Lieberman Big News Page.

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Comments

[longtimegone]

Doesn't this seem reminiscent of Ariel Sharon of years past? And Ariel Sharon, who oversaw the massacres of Sabra and Shatila, who marched to he Dome of the Rock to purposefully provoke the Intifada, where is he now? In his own private hell. Can you spell k-a-r-m-a? A word to the wise guy.

[vishix]

He was 79 when he had his stroke. I would consider it karma if he was like 65 or something.

[skialethia]

And maybe he wanted to retire to a comfortable existence and live til 90, instead he's imprisoned in his own body maybe until 90?

[RationalRadioJack]

Just another reason that religion is the root of all evil.

Israel has done far more to damage the human rights of the innocent than any other country.

[AtheistUS]

Religion is one of evils, yes. This Lieberman is a lunatic and extremist, yes.

Israel "has done far more to damage the human rights of the innocent than any other country" - this is nonsense. This statement can be explained in one way only: You lived all life in one single country (Israel), never heard anything about any other country.

[Rog49Thomas]

Brother Arik is on the record as calling Brother Avi a dangerous right winger.

And Brother Arik would certainly be an expert on that topic.

[Rog49Thomas]

Mr. Netanyahu really wanted to be PM.

For some, power is worth a mass.

For others, power is worth getting in bed with a r acist.

Sad day for a people who were the target of genocide to have as their "foreign face" this man.

[outnow]

I'd venture to say that this guy probably has more support by far among American Christians than among American Jews. He places Zionism above democracy. The End Tmes crowd cheers him on so that they can get on with their own Rapture.

You could actually substitute some words here and there, and, if there were such a thing as a time machine, find yourself in the late thirties in a different country. There the theme would be the Aryan agenda. Manifest Destiny and other exceptoionalisms always end up with the "righteous" surrounded by their "enemies." Only by violence can there be peace, or whatever.

It is time for the cycle of violence to end. Biden told this guy not to launch a war. Biden seems to understand how delusional this guy is.

[AtheistUS]

My guess also is that Lieberman has more support of American Christians than among American Jews.

[TryToBeFlexible]

The US and the world punished the Palestinians for electing Hamas leaders, so the world and the US should punish Israel for electing this nut job. If Israel did not feel it was "negotiating" from a position of supreme strenghth (having the full US military under its apparent command), if they felt that our love was conditional, and maybe not forever, then things might start moving.

[Gemma08]

Palestine will never submit to the bloody sword of Israeli occupation.

[Taaif Mehadi]

Amen, survival is in their genes.

[azbird]

After reading the second paragraph, it was clear that the author is extremely biased. and lost all credubiliyy

[considerthis]

You want to hear bias -- go back and read the quotes by Leiberman. Now consider credibility (or sanity)

[phute]

So that's your view - I'd say you're scared of the truth - after all this article simply points out what Lieberman has actually said.

[Vectors]

We need to treat Israel the same way we treat Cuba.

[shotei]

Really? Why? Because Israel allows crazy politicians to express themselves such as Lieberman and other extremist Arab politicians (they have said even that they would march with suicide bombers in Tel Aviv)?
That is democracy. The guy says what he wants and that goes for both sides (and I mean Arab Israelis here). They have radical Arab politicans that visit enemy states in the middle of a war and state their desire to see more suicide bombings and the Jews have this crazy guy. Both express themselves and are allowed to as long as it doesn't actually hurt other people's rights. These lunatics only talk. They know they can't implement any of it because of the laws of the country.
Arabs are given equal rights in Israel with access to public office, parties, schools, everything.
Now, if you cared to explain, what does Israel have to do with Cuba?

[chaos4700]

So democracy means taking the man who wants to expel all Arabs from Israel and drive the Palestinians "into the sea" (his own words, see point number two) and making him your Foreign Minister, huh? This would be the George W. Bush School of "Democratuh-zation" huh? Or at least the John Bolton School of Diplomacy ("Worst... diplomat... /ever/.")

[skialethia]

"Today he said Israel should shift its focus from the Palestinians to the Iranians, according to Press TV. "The biggest problem isn't the Palestinians, but the Iranians," he said."

I'll bet! Despite all his other threats, this one is the one that scares me the most in the short term. You see this is the agenda that this new government will do everything in their power to enforce. It allows them to "kill" two birds with one stone.

First, distract the world with Iran, heighten the rhetoric to win the battle of public perception and get the U.S. to agree to a strike against Iran, and the rest of the world to lamely sit back and allow it to happen.

Then, while they're distracting everyone with Iran, they're stealing more and more land from the Palestinians, pushing back the peace process some more, and inflicting more hardship on the Palestinians hoping that the world will abandon the two-state solution in the midst of a much larger conflict with Iran and that this will exhaust the Palestinians' spirit and they'll abandon all hope for a state of their own.

[almazza98]

Israel is committing suicide by doing this. First, TIME is on the Palestinians side, yes they would have to endure extreme hardship and death etc.. But that's what they have been doing for decades. Second, If Israel starts a war in Iran, it won't be an easy one and it will cause a domino effect and the world opinion will slide even further down on Israel. Does Israel want to exist or not? They are on a suicide mission thinking they have the same chips on the table that they had 20 years ago. NEWSFLASH, You are losing moral support and time. You want a "Jewish State", you barely have a chance now, otherwise it will become a ONE STATE SOLUTION, which at the end of the day is the best solution. The only ones against it are the RACISTS AND RELIGIOUS EXTREMISTS.

[AtheistUS]

I don't think, say, Jimmy Carter is a racist or a religious extremist, but he (as almost any reasonable person) consistently suggests two states solution. And I completely agree with him - two states solution, the only viable option that will reduce tension and bring stability.

[Discipulus04]

Israel deserves the type of leaders it picks. It seem the greatest enemy of the Israelis are themselves.

[vishix]

I'm pretty sure it's the surrounding states that want to wipe israel out of existence... and hamas...

[FrTown]

Wow! Their Lieberman is crazier than ours

[Gemma08]

rflmao!

[polaris12]

We should be thankful for Lieberman, he reflects the true face of the Israeli government and its policy - he's not being hypocritical and pretending that there is any intention to give the Palestinians their own state. He says what other Israeli leaders keep hidden. Just like Bush/Cheney revealed the true face of American interventionism around the world, so Mr. Lieberman presents the Israeli agenda unvarnished and for all to see.

[sandan]

Couldn't agree more! Let's stop pampering and subsidizing Israel and let them grow up and behave like a nation.
People like Lieberman and the people behind hime are the real threat to the middle east.
In the last two-hundred years, how many times has Iran attacked another nation?
In the last decade, how many conflicts (self-inflicted) has Israel been in.
And which one of their Gods allowed them to keep 5-million people in captivity?
It's hi9gh time for America to wean Israel and let show that it can be a responsible world country!

[skialethia]

So now everyone should be asking themselves: How do we fight this? However, just like no one took the little dictator with the mustache seriously, so this guy has been put in a powerful position and still we do nothing but enable his "final solution" fantasies by providing him and his ilk with more and more sophisticated means to indulge them.

[PAposter]

This is a very scary situation for the world

[AtheistUS]

No, this situation is completely different. You are completely suppressed by one single idea, but anybody else can take a look at history.

[AtheistUS]

You comparison is not consistent. I think just like Bush/Cheney are gone now, the Lieberman may be also gone, and better side of Israel will get to the government.

[shafff]

I guess they're trying to play good cop/bad cop with the Arabs, aren't they? because I sure hope this guy has no real voice in the government besides making noise

[skialethia]

Who's the good cop...the one who launched operation Cast Lead?

[Taxi]

Good one skia :)

[vishix]

I like this guy except for statement 4. I'm not religious so I don't agree with that.

[chaos4700]

I suppose you'd have to make that disclaimer to pass yourself off as a secularist.

[vishix]

I usually prefer secular government.

[JDOK]

Wow! Are you really that ignorant?

[vishix]

That's not ignorant. The article is biased against him (seems like the whole website is against him). When you are underseige from all sides you have to defend yourself.