People
LIEBERMAN, Avigdor -- Israeli politician and deputy prime minister
Avigdor Lieberman, chair of the far-right Yisrael Beitenu (Israel Our Home) party, joined Ehud Olmert's government as deputy prime minister and Minister of Strategic Threats in October 2006. As a cabinet member, Lieberman is an integral part of all strategic discussions. Lieberman, who is known for his advocacy of "transfer," or ethnic cleansing, of Palestinian citizens in Israel, as well as his declaration that Palestinian members of the Knesset who meet with Palestinian leaders from the West Bank and Gaza should be executed as traitors, immigrated to Israel from Moldova at the age of 20.
Yisrael Beitenu, a far-right party whose ideology reflects Lieberman's, is the largest party of the Russian immigrant sector in Israel. Reflecting how Lieberman's party's racist ideology is mainstream in Israel, Yisrael Beitenu holds nearly 10 percent of the seats in the Israeli Knesset and is a coalition partner with the majority Kadima party.
Despite his open racism, his inclusion in the cabinet has failed to elicit any significant protest nationally or internationally. Instead, he has been welcomed by influential institutions such as the Brooking's Saban Center where he participated in a forum alongside Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Some of Avigdor Lieberman's infamous statements:
In 1998, Lieberman called for the flooding of Egypt by bombing the Aswan Dam in retaliation for Egyptian support for Yasser Arafat.
In 2001, as Minister of National Infrastructure, Lieberman proposed that the West Bank be divided into four cantons, with no central Palestinian government and no possibility for Palestinians to travel between the cantons.
In 2002, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Lieberman in a Cabinet meeting saying that the Palestinians should be given an ultimatum that "At 8am we'll bomb all the commercial centers ... at noon we'll bomb their gas stations ... at two we'll bomb their banks ..."
In 2003, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Lieberman called for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel to be drowned in the Dead Sea and offered to provide the buses to take them there.
In May 2004, Lieberman proposed a plan that called for the transfer of Israeli territory with Palestinian populations to the Palestinian Authority. Likewise, Israel would annex the major Jewish settlement blocs on the Palestinian West Bank. If applied, his plan would strip roughly one-third of Israel's Palestinian citizens of their citizenship. A "loyalty test" would be applied to those who desired to remain in Israel. This plan to trade territory with the Palestinian Authority is a revision of Lieberman's earlier calls for the forcible transfer of Palestinian citizens of Israel from their land. Lieberman stated in April 2002 that there was "nothing undemocratic about transfer."
Also in May 2004, he said that 90 percent of Israel's 1.2 million Palestinian citizens would "have to find a new Arab entity" in which to live beyond Israel's borders. "They have no place here. They can take their bundles and get lost," he said.
In May 2006, Lieberman called for the killing of Arab members of Knesset who meet with members of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.
 |
| Urging the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, stickers and graffiti in Israel and in the Israeli occupied West Bank indicate a troubling prevalent racism in Israeli society that has become increasingly mainstream with the rise of public figures like Avigdor Lieberman. (Photo: Maureen Clare Murphy) |
News and Analysis
Israel's Dark Future, Jonathan Cook (20 January 2007)
Sole protester greets otherwise unchallenged Lieberman, Michael F. Brown (12 January 2007)
MK Avigdor Lieberman's visit to the US, Michael F. Brown (14 December 2006)
Vile Jibes at President Carter ignored by media, Michael F. Brown (11 December 2006)
A rare voice: an interview with author Ilan Pappe, Christopher Brown (11 December 2006)
Call upon Hillary Clinton to cancel meeting with Lieberman, Howard Horowitz and Andrew Courtney, WESPAC Foundation (1 December 2006)
Lieberman: Vocalizing Israel's Apartheid Reality, Saree Makdisi (15 November 2006)
Palestinian NGOs accuse EU of double standards after Solana meets Lieberman, Ma'an (2 November 2006)
Lieberman out of the shadows: Israel's Minister of Strategic Threats, Jonathan Cook (25 October 2006)
World silent as fascists join Israel government, Ali Abunimah (24 October 2006)
Israeli party leader Avigdor Lieberman calls for Arab MKs to be executed, I'lam (11 May 2006)
Israel's Elections: A Decisive Vote for Apartheid, Omar Barghouti (9 April 2006)
The New York Times Covers Up Discrimination against Palestinian Citizens of Israel, Patrick O'Connor (30 March 2006)
Israeli Elections: A Vote for Separation, Jonathan Cook (24 March 2006)
Related Links
BY TOPIC: Palestinians in Israel
|  |
|
