RAMALLAH: Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the European Union and its foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to stay out of Israeli-Palestinian affairs, Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported. Lieberman, who has called for the mass population transfer of Arab citizens of Israel and has been extensively investigated for charges of fraud and corruption, is the leader of the right-wing party Yisrael Beitenu. Shortly before the Palestinian Authority was upgraded to a “nonmember observer state" in the United Nations General Assembly, Lieberman suggested that Israel topple the Ramallah-based government of President Mahmoud Abbas. Lieberman's comments were in direct response to a EU statement condemning the recent decision to expand settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, Ha'aretz added. “Settlements are illegal under international law and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible,” Ashton wrote. Lieberman responded that “it is better that the EU would focus now on the problems between different peoples and nations in Europe,” and said that only “after the successful resolution of those problems we [Israel] would be glad to hear the EU's advice on solving the problems with the Palestinians.” Lieberman also said that Jerusalem in its entirety is and will remain the capital of the State of Israel.
