Nobody asked you, Sarkozy
Published by Avi Green on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 12:29 PM.
I've usually been unsure if I should take issue with anything negative the French president's done, though I realize he's as capable as any other politician, but here, it seems he did something considered an attempt to intervene in another country's personal politics: he asked for foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman to be replaced with Tzipi Livni:
(Israelnationalnews.com) During their meeting last week in Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to replace Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman with opposition leader Tzipi Livni. Netanyahu's office declined comment, but the Foreign Ministry response was less diplomatic.I wonder what Sarkozy would say if he knew that Ehud Barak refused to recommend Livni for a PM candidate when Shimon Peres asked what the Labor party thought? What Sarkozy has done is and should be an embarrassment. If the objections are made loud enough, he'll certainly have to quiet down and avoid making foolish arguments like that again.
"With her and [Defense Minister Ehud] Barak you can make history," Sarkozy told Netanyahu, according to a Monday night report on Israel TV's Channel 2 News. "I have always accepted Israeli foreign ministers, and I loved to have Tzipi Livni here at the Elysee [Palace], but with [Lieberman] I can't." The French leader allegedly also made a dismissive hand gesture when mentioning the Israeli Foreign Minister. Livni, he added, made a strategic mistake in refusing to join Netanyahu's cabinet.
In addition to Netanyahu, three Israeli officials reportedly heard the undiplomatic statements by Sarkozy.
[...]
In a statement from the Foreign Ministry Monday night, officials insisted, "We expect every political institution in Israel to condemn this blatant intervention of a foreign country in our private affairs, no matter what its political stance."
Minister of National Infrastructure Uzi Landau, a leader in Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu party, reacted to the Channel 2 report on Tuesday morning in an interview on IDF Radio.
"It's difficult for me to believe that a leader of a friendly country could make such remarks," Landau said, "but were I the Prime Minister, and such comments were made in my presence, I would bang on the table and object. That's how a prime minister should conduct himself to defend his country's honor."
