Lieberman Cozies Up to Russia

Avigdor Lieberman, the controversial Israeli Foreign Minister, has given his first full interview to a Russian daily, Moskovskiy Komosolets. (Lieberman’s native home is Moldova—part of the former USSR—and he speaks fluent Romanian and Russian.) In the interview, Lieberman expresses great interest in pursuing closer ties to Russia as a key player in the progress towards Middle East peace. He also claims that having neglected the ‘Kremlin Factor’, Israel has not taken advantage of what Russia can offer to the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Moreover, the role of Israel, according to Lieberman, is to bring the US and Russia closer to one another.

His bombastic comments in recent days about the two-state plan, those last year when he told the Knesset that Egypt’s president Hosni Mubarak could “go to hell”, and another time when he suggested Egypt’s Aswan Dam should be bombed have made him the Arabs’ most hated man in the Middle East right now, and an untouchable to their southern neighbors. Earlier this month, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said, “As long as Lieberman’s positions stay the same, if we see each other by chance at a meeting, I will keep my hands in my pocket.” And:

“In 30 years of peace with Israel, I have met with more than one Israeli foreign minister, and I have welcomed them in Egypt,” Aboul- Gheit continued. “But never before have any of them said anything like what [Lieberman] said against Egypt.”

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“[Lieberman] is man who must reconsider how his brain communicates with his tongue,” Aboul Gheit said.

The Israelis now appear to be reaching out to Moscow to be a key partner of the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. Lieberman is speaking in hope; or is it despair? The Israeli Foreign Minister is now friendless in the Arab world. He has effectively dug a moat around himself when he most needs to be building bridges. This overture to the Russians may have more to do with a lack of other alternatives than anything else.

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