Avigdor Lieberman

Then, too, the occupation of the country was unnecessary." This threat was been interpreted by some media commentators, including Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as an allusion to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and as advocacy for a nuclear strike on Gaza. Read Less

On 21 August, Lieberman said that it is important for Israel to make sure that the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty is upheld, and not to remain silent as Egyptian military forces enter the Sinai. Concern was raised by Israeli officials over Egyptian failure to notify Israel about the deployment of tanks in the Sinai, which violates the peace treaty. Lieberman said, "We must make sure that every detail is upheld, otherwise we'll find ourselves in a slippery slope as far as the peace treaty is concerned." As instability in the Sinai continued into the next month, Lieberman responded to calls to deploy more troops with "The problem in Sinai is not the size of the forces, it is their readiness to fight, to put pressure and to carry out the job as is needed".

On 28 August, Lieberman invited Egyptian President Morsi to visit Israel, after being encouraged by Morsi'is statements in late August that the Israel-Egypt peace treaty was secure. Lieberman said, "We certainly hope to see Morsi hosting official Israeli representatives soon; we want to see him giving interviews to Israeli media; we want to see him in Jerusalem as President (Shimon) Peres' guest." Read Less

On another occasion in his trip, he stated that "Nothing is going to come out of this 'Peace Industry' except for conferences in five star Hotels and a waste of money". Generally speaking, the diplomatic mission was private and subject to restricted news coverage.

On 7 May, Yediot Ahronot stated that Lieberman was appointed the minister in charge of strategic dialogue with the U.S. On 17 June, he appeared in a joint press conference with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in his first official visit to the U.S. Lieberman clashed with Clinton over the issue of Israeli settlements, with Lieberman dismissing her call to end settlement expansion. Financial Times described the meeting as "one of the most tense encounters between the sides for several years". Clinton also rejected Lieberman's assertion that the Bush administration had agreed to further building in the West Bank. Israel National News stated afterward that Lieberman and Prime Minister Netanyahu both have the same position of settlement expansion and for retaining Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. Read Less