Lieberman calls for new PA elections

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has sent a letter to the foreign ministers of the Middle East Quartet members, calling on them to press for new elections in the Palestinian Authority to replace PA President Mahmoud Abbas, whom Lieberman described as an 'obstacle to peace'. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz, is dated August 20 and was sent to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The letter is the high point of a campaign Lieberman has been conducting in the past year to delegitimize Abbas, but it is the first time he has suggested a concrete process for removing him, such as holding new elections.