Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday he believes Arab citizens of Israel who fight against Zionism should become citizens of a future Palestinian state instead.
Busy Lieberman
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At a Cabinet meeting held in the wake of the impending end of a moratorium imposed on West Bank settlement construction, Lieberman inveighed against recent comments by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, who said his organization would never recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
"This forces us to deal with the issue of the Israeli Arabs during the negotiations. People like Hanin Zoabi and Raed Salah fight against Zionism, and I believe they should be Palestinian citizens," he said, referring to a controversial MK who participated in the Gaza flotilla and the leader of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, respectively.
"The principle that should guide us in negotiations is not territories for peace but the exchange of both territories and populations. They can be parliament members in Gaza, for Hamas, Fatah, wherever they like – but they can’t enjoy benefits on both sides."
MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad) responded to Lieberman’s comments by saying that the rights of Israeli Arabs to their homeland did not depend on either the foreign minister or the definitions of the State of Israel.
"While Lieberman bases his claims on the doctrine of racism, I base mine on the principle of total equality between citizens. We are the ones representing the only democratic option, while Lieberman represents apartheid and ethnic cleansing," she said