Livni demands Israeli premier clarify stance on Annapolis process

Apr 2, 2009, 14:13 GMT

Tel Aviv - Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni called Thursday on Premier Benjamin Netanyahu to distance himself from remarks by his new foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman rejecting the Annapolis peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

'When something so dramatic is said and does not receive a response, it either reflects weakness on the part of Bibi (Netanyahu's nickname) or he actually believes it,' she told Israel Army Radio.

Lieberman, taking over the Foreign Ministry from Livni on Wednesday afternoon, said Israel was not bound by the internationally-endorsed Annapolis peace process, launched in November 2007 and which revived Israeli-Palestinian peace talks which entered a hiatus only when Israel entered an election period last last year.

Instead, Lieberman said, Israel would be bound by the 2003, performance-based 'road map' of the quartet of the US, EU, Russia and United Nations.

Both the Annapolis process and the road map endorse the two-state solution and call for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

But while the Annapolis process calls for immediate negotiations on all of the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, including Jerusalem, borders and refugees, the road map calls on the Palestinians to first combat militants.

It also calls on Israel to freeze all settlement activity and to uproot dozens of settlers' outposts erected without formal government approval throughout the West Bank over the past eight years.

The road map was launched amid much fanfare in 2003, but quickly landed in a quagmire afterwards, as Israel and the Palestinian Authority accused each other - and the international community accused them both - of non-compliance with its clauses.

Livni, foreign minister at the time the Annapolis process was initiated in November 2007, and Israel's chief negotiator in talks with the Palestinians, said Thursday that Lieberman's remarks set Israel back 'years.'

'The significance of Annapolis is that it is a permanent agreement and peace, based on two-states. When we reach such an agreement, it will be based on the road map,' she said.

It was unclear whether Lieberman's comments reflected the view of Netanyahu.

An Israeli government spokesman would not be drawn on the matter, saying only that 'the new Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Netanyahu is fully committed to peace with the Arab world and with the Palestinians specifically.'

'If the Palestinian leadership is serious about peace, peace will be achievable,' spokesman Mark Regev said.