Israel Matzav

Lieberman joins Kerry defenders, most Israelis disagree

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman can't even get his picture taken with US Secretary of State John FN Kerry, but on Friday he rushed to Kerry's defense... on orders from Prime Minister Netanyahu?

Amid criticism from the Israeli Right about US diplomacy in the region, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman proclaimed US Secretary of State John Kerry as "a true friend of Israel," warning that it was not wise to damage relations with allies.

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While Liberman said he supported Kerry's efforts to reach a two-state solution, he said he was not willing to pay any price for achieving such a deal and Israel's security concerns must be addressed.

The foreign minister said he agreed that land and population swaps should be part of a peace deal.

There's a reason that praise was a bit lukewarm: Most Israeli Jews disagree. In fact, more than two thirds believe that recent criticism of Kerry is justified.

Seventy percent of Israeli Jews do not believe the US can be relied upon to maintain key Israeli interests and security requirements in the American- brokered agreement being drafted with the Palestinians, a Geocartography Institute poll taken this week found.

When the pollsters asked respondents whether they trusted the US under President Barack Obama to maintain Israel’s interests in a deal, 23% said definitely no, 25% said no, 22% said not completely, 17% said yes, 8% said definitely yes and 5% had no opinion.

Asked whether they agreed with recent criticism of US Secretary of State John Kerry by top Israeli officials, 67% said yes and only 32% said no.

But among the respondents who answered affirmatively, 13% said Israeli officials should be careful not to criticize the US publicly.

The poll - which only polled Jewish Israelis - showed that Israeli Jews are concerned about the possibility of a boycott, but they're not buying into Kerry's 'peace deal.'

Labels: Avigdor Lieberman, Binyamin Netanyahu, boycott Israel, John Kerry, Middle East peace process, Naftali Bennett

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:07 PM