Israel's far-right foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman is a "repatriate," or immigrant from the former Soviet Union. The key base of support for Lieberman's political party, Israel Beitenu (Israel Is Our Home), comes from the repatriate community, which, facing discrimination from native-born Israelis, tends to be more open to the extreme anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian politics that Lieberman promotes. Remember: this is the guy who has suggested: 1) That Israel's Arab citizens sign loyalty oaths; 2) That Israel should bomb Egypt's Aswan Dam; and 3) That "minorities are the biggest problem in the world."
Now, as Haaretz reports, Lieberman has offered his first major interview since coming to office, not to an Israeli newspaper, but to the Russian daily Moskovskiy Komosolets. Lieberman was characteristically combative, saying of the Obama administration, "Believe me, America accepts all our decisions" -- despite major differences between the agenda of Lieberman and the U.S. president. Lieberman, for example, derides attempts to move toward a two-state solution. If there is a silver lining in the interview, it is that Lieberman dialed back some of his confrontational rhetoric toward Iran, saying he now believes Afghanistan and Pakistan are bigger threats to Israeli security. Does that mean he'd like to bomb them, too?
--Dana Goldstein
