Avigdor Lieberman has given his first major interview since becoming Israeli foreign minister. The interview was with a Russian daily paper, and Ha'aretz is reporting that Lieberman boasted about the intimate nature of the US/Israel relationship. Lieberman reportedly said, "believe me, America accepts all our decisions," and Ha'aretz added that he also said "the Obama Administration will put forth new peace initiatives only if Israel wants it to." This seems like a bit of a touchy subject over here in the US as the Israel lobby has become a bit of a story in the last few days, but who am I to say.
More surprisingly, Lieberman outlined Israel's greatest current strategic threats– and Iran wasn't the leading contender. While Israeli politicians have been comparing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler in the wake of his Geneva speech, Lieberman says that Afghanistan and Pakistan are Israel's greatest threat. Wow. Ha'aretz comments, "This comes after years of Lieberman warning about
the growing Iranian threat. Now, he has dropped Tehran to number two,
with Iraq coming third."
One initial thought. Lieberman might be sensing that Israel's strategic worth to the US is shifting and it is important that they get on board with President Obama's foreign policy priorities. Not a bad idea from his perspective, even it means ditching Israel's current existential threat. It will be interesting to see how this plays out and if it affects the discussion here in the US.
