Israeli Foreign Minister Pours Cold Water on Palestinian Peace Prospects - WSJ.com

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By JOSHUA MITNICK

TEL AVIV -- Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said not to expect a comprehensive peace pact with the Palestinians anytime soon, comments that coincided with a visit by U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell, who is pushing for just such a deal.

Mr. Mitchell started a new round of shuttle diplomacy in the region Thursday, aimed at restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations toward a permanent peace treaty, a goal that has remained elusive despite months of active U.S. mediation.

Mr. Lieberman is the leader of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, the largest partner in the government coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That secured for him the foreign ministry post, but he isn't directly involved in talks with the U.S. to renew peace efforts with the Palestinians.

"Why have [previous Israeli administrations] never achieved a comprehensive agreement? Because apparently it is impossible to achieve," the foreign minister said in an interview with Israel Radio.

A representative for Mr. Netanyahu declined to comment on Mr. Lieberman's remarks.

A Palestinian representative said the foreign minister's comments mean that prospects for peace are "very limited."

"What he said is more consistent with what Israel does, rather than what other [officials] are saying," said Ghassan Khatib, the head of the Palestinian Government Media Center. Mr. Netanyahu has said he is ready to enter negotiations without preconditions.

The comments also coincided with reports of a leaked foreign ministry position paper, commissioned by Mr. Lieberman, that recommends refocusing Israeli efforts away from the Palestinian conflict and reducing the Jewish state's dependence on the U.S.

Yigal Palmor, a ministry spokesman, said Mr. Lieberman commissioned the position paper ahead of a ministrywide re-examination of "the conventional wisdom of Israel's foreign policy."

The position paper, however, "doesn't represent anything except a basis for internal debate," he said. Mr. Palmor declined to discuss the substance of the position paper.

Mr. Lieberman, who has a reputation for blunt diplomacy, argued during the interview that like the ethnically divided island of Cyprus, Israelis and Arabs could learn to live alongside one another without a comprehensive solution to their conflict.

That runs counter to U.S. policy. During a three-way summit with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last month, U.S. President Barack Obama called on the two sides to act with urgency and said a resolution to the decades-long conflict is "absolutely critical" for U.S. interests, as well as the peoples of the region.

Speaking to reporters at a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres Thursday, Mr. Mitchell said the Obama administration remains "firmly committed" to achieving a regional peace between Israel, the Palestinians and its Arab neighbors that includes a full normalization of ties.