BICOM

Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has told the Telegraph that it is vital to keep peace talks alive with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and that the peace plan proposed by US Secretary of State John Kerry is the best deal Israel will get.

During a visit to London this week, Lieberman enjoyed what was described as an “open and productive meeting” with Foreign Secretary William Hague. He also met with Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband and members of the foreign affairs select committee. In what is billed as his first major interview since returning to office in November, Yisrael Beitenu leader Lieberman, who has a reputation for hawkish views on the peace process, told the Telegraph, “With or without a comprehensive solution we will continue to live together [Israelis and Palestinians] and continue to be neighbours. There are many problems on the ground, so this direct contact, this negotiation, these talks – it’s very important to keep alive and maintain.”

Lieberman said “we really appreciate” John Kerry’s diplomatic efforts, commenting “he has really put a lot of energy into the issue.” Referring to Kerry’s framework plan for final status talks, which Kerry is thought to have presented to Israeli and Palestinian leaders last weekend, Lieberman described it as “the best proposal we can get.” On Sunday, Lieberman told Israeli diplomats in Jerusalem that Kerry’s plan is far preferable to “other proposals from the international community.”

Lieberman continued by saying that Israel is “ready to go far” to broker a peace deal and called on PA President Mahmoud Abbas to “be ready for compromise, but I am not sure he is able.” He also considered that divisions had perhaps been created by “mistake of leadership, of our governments – more than Arab mistakes.”

The Telegraph’s Diplomatic Editor Alex Spilius described Lieberman’s comments as “a change of direction likely to shock the jaded Middle Eastern diplomatic scene” and hailed Lieberman’s “apparent transformation from hardliner to pragmatist.”