Israel Bids Adieu To Joe Lieberman, A staunch Ally In U.S. Senate
The Palestinian Authority's demand that Israel freeze settlements is "an excuse" not to return to the negotiating table, said Senator Joe Lieberman in a wide-ranging interview with Haaretz ahead of his retirement next month.
Lieberman also called the PA's move to upgrade its United Nations status a "mistake." "The real answer here is for them to go back to negotiations without preconditions. The whole business of settlement freeze is really an excuse. I don't mean it doesn't sincerely agitate them, but it wasn't a condition before. And now when Prime Minister Netanyahu is clear about his support of the two-state solution, and there is an overwhelming support among the Israeli people for negotiations, it only complicates the process going to the UN, and I think reduces the confidence of the government of Israel in the Palestinian Authority," said the veteran Connecticut senator, a longtime Democrat who is currently an independent, in the interview held late last week.
"The best thing that could happen except for the PA government sitting down without preconditions is [for there] to be real elections in all Palestinian areas, because part of the problem for Israel is negotiating with only part of the Palestinians."
On the walls of Lieberman's senate office - he has served as a senator for 24 years - are a number of photographs, some with President Barack Obama, others with past presidents and a prominently displayed picture with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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