Speaking to Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet on Thursday 5 Elul 5772, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman defended his position, calling for the ousting of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).

Lieberman stressed he has a right to express his personal opinion, and doing so does not represent opposing any cabinet policy or decision.

He explained that Abu Mazen has been running a “political terror” campaign against Israel, citing repeated and frequent letters of complaint to the United Nations and affiliated agencies, such as UNESCO, accusing Israel of state terror against Arabs, human rights violations, humanitarian crimes, cover-ups regarding state probes of military operations and more. He explained the PA is not promoting peace with Israel and other than rhetoric; Abu Mazen has done nothing to advance the Oslo process with Israel.

Lieberman pointed out that Abu Mazen has no control over Gaza, and cannot manage elections in areas in Yehuda and Shomron. He questions why the PA leader who claims to be committed to peace names a Ramallah neighborhood after master terrorist Yechyi Ayash and why he refers to the terrorists responsible for abducting Gilad Shalit as “freedom fighters”. He stated the PA leader is weak, ineffective and incapable of thinking out of the box.

His words were met with condemnation as was his letter to Quartet nations. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was quick to distance himself from the letter, stating it is not reflective of government policy. Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned the letter compromises Israel’s strategic interests.

Israel Radio also interviewed Jibril Rajoub, a senior PA official, asking him to comment on the foreign minister’s words. Rajoub called Lieberman “dangerous” and rejected his accusations, praising the PA leader and his commitment to peace and the “two-state solution”. Israel Radio permitted Rajoub to verbally assault the foreign minister, with the former being a terrorist himself but nonetheless, granted air time in Israel. Israel’s state-run radio and its leftist agenda continue to persuade the unassuming public, presenting Rajoub and others as legitimate voices of peace and dual-existence.

A bit about Rajoub

– During the regime of Yasser Arafat, Rajoub was the head of the Preventative Security Force until he was removed from the position. His terrorist past began back in 1968, when the ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet) arrested him on suspicion of aiding fleeing Egyptian officers. The Hebron-born PA official assisted terror cells in the S. Hebron Hills area, and in 1970, he was arrested for throwing a grenade at an IDF bus in the Hebron area. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his terrorist activities. During his prison time, he translated Menachem Begin’s “The Revolt” into Arabic. He was among the 1,150 terrorists released by Israel in exchange for three hostages held by the PFLP in 1985. His prison time did not deter him, quickly returning to his profession, terrorism. He was arrested in December 1987 and deported to Lebanon a month later. He was the mastermind of a plot to assassinate Ariel Sharon in 1992.

After the signing of the Oslo Agreement in September 1993, he was permitted back into the PA a areas in 1994. In 2003 he became Yasser Arafat’s national security advisor.

In an interview which aired on Palestinian Authority TV on September 23, 2011, (as a response to a recent speech by US President Barack Obama speech at the UN regarding Palestinian independence)(as translated by MEMRI), Rajoub sharply criticized Obama, stating that “Obama’s speech was idiotic. It did not even reflect the US policy or the doctrine they employed in the past. It sounded like a speech of a student leader in a university, rather than the speech of a leader of a superpower.”

In July of 2012, as head of the Palestine Olympic Committee, Rajoub called a request for a minute of silence to remember the 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the Munich Olympics by Palestinian Arab terrorists in 1972 “racist”.

This is another of Israel’s “moderate” peace partners, along with Abu Mazen, today both sporting a suit and tie and welcomed by the international diplomatic community as legitimate members of the international diplomatic community.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)