Lieberman denies threatening Oslo Accord

The Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has denied threatening to dissolve the coalition government “if Netanyahu does not punish the Palestinians for their decision to request full membership in the UN.” Lieberman said today that his comments printed in the newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, were “not right. While we will not stay quiet on the Palestinian plan, we are a long way from dissolving the coalition.” Lieberman added that: “I never made those comments. I know and I respect the Yediot Ahronot correspondent, Shemoan Shefer, but he didn’t ask for my comment or opinion. I don’t say things like that in private conversations – I always say them publicly.” Yediot Ahronot newspaper said that “the Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has threatened to dissolve the coalition government “if Netanyahu does not punish the Palestinians for their decision to request full membership in the UN.” The newspaper claimed that Lieberman had told Netanyahu to cancel the Oslo agreement, join the settlement blocs and block senior officials from entering the West Bank. The newspaper added that Lieberman would encourage the US Jewish lobby to halt US aid to the Palestinians. The newspaper claimed that the Israeli Finance Minister, Yuval Steinitz, also threatened to take economic measures against the PLO if it pursues the statehood bid at the UN. Steinitz said, “Israel can stop the conversion of money equivalent to 40 percent of the total revenue of the Palestinian Authority’s budget.” Although Lieberman has denied the report, his deputy and member of Knesset, Danny Ayalon, told Israeli radio today that Israel will take a series of punitive actions against Palestine if they pursue the UN bid. This many include cancelling the Osco agreement, joining the settlement blocs and blocking senior officials from entering the West Bank. Lieberman has called on the cancellation of the Oslo agreement several times in the past. Lieberman has also denied during the interview that he said that there would be a war with Turkey. "We do not intend to respond to this provocation”, he said.