Sarkozy To Netanyahu: Fire Avigdor Lieberman

JERUSALEM — French president Nicolas Sarkozy urged the Israeli prime minister to fire his foreign minister _ a hard-liner whose party tried to force Israelis to take a loyalty oath, two senior Israeli officials said Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's appointment has been ill-received internationally because of his hard-line positions on peace and Israel's Arab population, among other issues. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing EU ambassadors on Tuesday, expressed "full confidence" in the country's chief diplomat.

"He is a man who is fully committed to peace and security for our country," Netanyahu said. "He is part of the democratically elected government of Israel which was elected with a clear mandate from the voters to achieve peace and security."

In the meeting last week, Sarkozy told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that "you must get rid of that man," the two officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose the contents of private conversations.

In May, Lieberman's party unsuccessfully tried to advance a proposal to strip the citizenship of Israelis who do not pledge loyalty to the state _ a proposal viewed as aimed at Israel's Arab minority.

Lieberman has also harshly criticized the U.S.-led peace talks launched by former President George W. Bush in Annapolis, Maryland, in 2007.

Netanyahu told the French leader that in private meetings Lieberman "sounds differently" than he does in political speeches but Sarkozy retorted that in private talks Jean-Marie Le Pen _ the far-right French politician _ is "a very nice man," the officials said.

Sarkozy suggested the more moderate former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as a replacement, the officials said.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said he would not comment beyond remarks provided by Sarkozy's office after the meeting with Netanyahu. There was no mention of Lieberman in that briefing.

"If the things attributed to the French president are true, then the interference of the president of a respected democratic country in the affairs of a different democratic country is very serious and intolerable," Lieberman's spokesman Tzahi Moshe said.

Comments

[iSeeDumbPeople]

Max Blumenthal's video "Feeling the Hate in Jerusalem on the Eve of Obama's Speech in Cairo":

http://maxblumenthal.com/2009/06/feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-on-the-eve-of-obamas-speech-in-cairo/

[DC]

Bibi does that and he is out of his job. He has his seat due to the coalition.

[arle]

I like the way you think.

[CanisLatrans]

Livni is smart not to let herself be in a position of power in the Netanyahu government. Her existence in a government run by Bibi would make a mockery of her position while providing a (wilting) fig leaf for Bibi's belligerent policies.

I hate to say it, but Lieberman perfectly fits Bibi's government. It may be that we need to see just how ugly these two are before realizing that the status quo vis-a-vis Settlements cannot go on. Israel is stronger without that millstone around their necks.

I say, good for Sarkozy. I wish Barack Obama had been so forthright, but he's putting pressure on Israel more subtly. Bibi and Liberman together are the types of guys who will create a lot of friction and eventually spark a big backlash. That, I hope, will be the time for Obama to move in.

A free Palestinian state will actually reinforce Israeli security.

[laminators]

A Haaretz article commented that there isn't even a current "functioning" foreign minister: http://www.governmentalityblog.com/my_weblog/2009/07/getting-rid-of-avigdor-lieberman.html

[Macready]

good for Sarkozy

[winta1]

Netanyahu to Sarkozy: shove it.

Netanyahu to France: fire Sarkozy.

[laminators]

Haaretz to Israeli: No functioning foreign minister
http://www.governmentalityblog.com/my_weblog/2009/07/getting-rid-of-avigdor-lieberman.html

[Goefel]

"He is a man who is fully committed to peace and security for our country," Netanyahu said.

Well we know that Natanyahu is commit to the same fraud as Lieberman now by his own statement.

[Macready]

totally agree with you Goefel . .

[arle]

Who's Bibi going to appoint as his Foreign Minister, then? I hear John Bolton is still unemployed.

[jordanispalestine]

noone! He's keeping Lieberman ! Stop worshiping a man,Sarkozy, who couldn't lead France to victory over Santa Lucia!

[Sentientbeing09]

Why do pro-Israel apologists look at everything through the prism of war. Why do you all love Israeli armed conflicts so much?

[GeorgeP922]

One day our government can stand for what is right.
Till then, the French lead the way.

Next someone tell Netanyahu to resign.

[LAThinker]

I am a strong supporter of Israel, but I agree with sarkozy on that one - any talk of "loyalty oath" just turns my stomach

[whoa20]

Exactly. So am I, but putting Lieberman in, what was Bibi thinking? honestly.

[arle]

Birds of a feather...

[NYC-Ninja]

Lieberman is Netenyahu minus the muzzle.

[whoa20]

Sarkozy is a pragmatic guy I'll say. Lieberman must go, but so must the burqa.

[arle]

So obviously you don't object to Lieberman on the grounds of racism, huh.

[Palemoon]

Livni won the election, how come she's not the leader? How come she's not at least the FM? Doesn't sound at all like Democracy to me. The government over there is going against the will of the people who voted in the past 2 elections.

[GeorgeP922]

Funny how noone DARES to call that "Not Democracy"

She won, but they have some kind of coalition.

Livini should have stuck to her guns, Bibi does not put Israel first, he reads just like Bush and Cheney.

They put their aggressive ideologies ahead of the good of their nations.

[arle]

Heh. Bibi is so like Bush and Cheney, he couldn't even be bothered to win the popular vote.

[melissamsouza]

For all his buffoonery and strangeness, Super Sarko actually has a point: I think he's speaking for many, including our President, when he sees that with this wacko Liebermann there is no hope of moving the Middle East process forward and getting genuine concessions on settlements.

[jordanispalestine]

Pass the Freedom Fries!

[jonjon66]

Comitted to Peace, laughable by any measure!