by Avi Tuchmayer
(IsraelNN.com) Strategic Affairs Minister and Yisrael Beiteinu party (Israel Is Our Home) head Avigdor Lieberman has just announced that his party is quitting the government.
Lieberman informed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Wednesday that he would resign his position as Minister for Strategic Affairs and lead his party out of the ruling coalition to protest negotiations over so-called "core issues" with the Palestine Liberation Organization: Jerusalem, final status borders and children and refugees of Arabs who left their homes during Israel's 1948 War of Independence.
Addressing a press conference at the Knesset, Lieberman praised Olmert for being forthright and open with political opponents, but said Yisrael Beiteinu has been clear about it's intentions for months.
"On October 27, 2007, a month before the Annapolis Conference, we published our red lines for staying in the government. We were absolutely clear about what it would take to keep our party in the government.
"I met with the prime minister two days before he left for the conference, and 10 days ago I reiterated our red lines yet again: If the government opens negotiations on core issues with the Palestinian Authority, we would leave the government," he said.
Topic: Lieberman Quits Government (Read 2024 times)