Lieberman Urges Party Leaders to Present Solutions for Palestinian Issue

Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party and a contender for prime minister, has called on all party leaders to publicly present their proposed solutions for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Lieberman reiterated his proposal to transfer civilian control of Areas A and B to Jordan, a plan he believes is urgently needed.

In a social media post, Lieberman expressed a grim assessment of the future, predicting that within two and a half years, the United States will recognize a Palestinian state encompassing the West Bank, Jordan Valley, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. He asserted that all senior officials in the U.S. State Department and National Security Council support such a move, and that Israel's past success in neutralizing this stance was due to strong American public opinion and political support, which he believes is now at an unprecedented low.

Lieberman criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu, stating that his current actions are "knowingly assisting in the establishment of a Palestinian state" and that Netanyahu "will go down in history as the founder of the Palestinian state." He warned that the next U.S. president, regardless of party, will likely recognize a Palestinian state and seek UN Security Council approval for full membership.

Lieberman argued that Israel must define its "end game" for the Palestinian Authority and the territories by the next U.S. elections, a timeframe of approximately two years. He accused Netanyahu of a pattern of ignoring warnings, drawing a parallel to his own warnings about Hamas in Gaza, which he claims led to the October 7th attacks. Lieberman also suggested that Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas is orchestrating a plan that will escalate into a wider confrontation with Israel, culminating around the U.S. presidential elections in November 2028.

Explaining his proposal further, Lieberman stated that Israel's goal should be to eliminate Hamas in Gaza and dismantle the Palestinian Authority, including abrogating the Oslo Accords. However, he stressed the need for international agreement on who would manage Palestinian daily life in the West Bank and Gaza post-dissolution, explicitly rejecting a return to Israeli military administration. He proposed Jordan as the entity to manage daily Palestinian affairs in the West Bank, with Israel retaining overall security control and the IDF remaining responsible for security throughout the West Bank. He also noted that "serious actors in the Arab world" would be willing to take responsibility for daily life in Gaza after Hamas is defeated.

Lieberman concluded by inviting other party leaders to share their own solutions for the Palestinian issue.