A day after US President Barack Obama reiterated his commitment to the Annapolis process and the road map peace plan, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday that the new government will formulate a diplomatic program compatible with the wishes of the electorate.
But the world "should not stand over us with a stopwatch," he added in an address at an Israel Beiteinu forum in Jerusalem.
Saying that after 16 years of a diplomatic "dead end" in the peace process, the world must be ready to listen to new ideas, Lieberman declared that "we intend to work with determination on the diplomatic plane and formulate a detailed and up-to-date assessment. This will not happen overnight, and they should not stand over us with a stopwatch in hand. We will formulate the policy compatible with our world view and as the voters wanted in the elections."
Lieberman said those who criticized him for rejecting Annapolis were "trying to build a 'Galut state' instead of a Jewish state, that would give up the national interest and national honor."
Lieberman asserted that "the biggest problem isn't the Palestinians, but the Iranians. From their ballistic missiles, nonconventional weapons and nuclear program, to their involvement in Lebanon and Gaza, Iran poses a much graver threat to Israel than the Palestinians do, and the focus should be moved from the Palestinians over to Iran."
Concluding his speech on a humorous note, Lieberman said to raucous laughter, "Don't you see? Now that I'm the foreign minister, I choose my words much more carefully."
