Israeli right wing politician Avigdor Lieberman unveiled a new plan today to cut off the Gaza Strip and declare it a "hostile enemy." I certainly understand why Israeli politicians would be at wit's end, with daily rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and fiery rhetoric from mosques and political leaders rivaling only that of the Third Reich [and much of the rest of the Muslim world today], but I find it strange that it is Lieberman who is taking the most militant stance, considering he did not move to Israel until he was 21 years old.
The Russian born Lieberman has a long record of anti-Arab rhetoric once stating that the Palestinians should be given an ultimatum, "At 8am we'll bomb all the commercial centers…at noon we'll bomb their gas stations…at two we'll bomb their banks…" he wrote in 2002 during the height of the Al-Aqsa intifada.
The Palestinians are no angels, though many hope to take the express train to heaven by blowing themselves up in a public place, but I wonder whether a Moldavian born gangster like Lieberman has the moral authority to make any claims on land in the Middle East.
Lieberman could realistically lead his country one day, unlike his namesake former Democratic presidential nominee, and current war hawk Joe Lieberman. With Olmert all but finished as PM, it looks like the situation with Israel's Palestinian cousins could get a lot worse before too long.