Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel will respect any new government in neighbouring Arab countries “that will respect the agreements we signed with them.”
He was speaking Tuesday at a press conference in Brussels after attending a meeting of the EU-Israel Association Coujncil, the body governing the political and economical relations between the two sides.
Asked about the unrest in various Arab countries, Lieberman said:”We never interfere in the internal policy of our neighbors. It’s their decision. We will respect every government. Our expectation is that our neighbors will respect the agreements that we signed,” in a reference to Egypt, the sole Arab country with Jordan that signed a peace treaty with Israel.
He stressed that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “has nothing to do” with the unrest in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen or Libya. “The reason of instability in these countries is poverty, misery and inefficient governments,” he said.
“We are a strong democracy, we enjoy high economic growth and we are ready to share our knowledge with other countries in the region,” Lieberman added.
He expressed Israel’s readiness to renew stalled direct talks with the Palestinians. “We need the EU assistance to bring the Palestinians to the negotiation table,” he said.
At the same press conference, Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, whose country currently chairs the European Union, said that the growing instability in the Middle East makes progress in the peace process “more imperative and more crucial than ever.”
“Time is pressing and the EU wants to help this process. Whether direct or indirect, talks are needed,” the minister emphasized.