Israeli official urges assassinations

JERUSALEM – Israel’s deputy prime minister on Saturday said Israel should assassinate Hamas’ leadership, ignore the moderate Palestinian president and walk away from international peace efforts, the latest in a string of hard-line positions voiced by the newest member of the Cabinet.

The comments by Avigdor Lieberman came as the rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, continued talks on forming a unity government. President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah hopes the coalition deal will enable him to revive peace efforts with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert brought Lieberman into the government last month to shore up a shaky coalition government weakened by the summer war in Lebanon. The Moldova-born Lieberman enjoys wide support among Israel’s large community of immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

But since joining the government as minister of strategic affairs, Lieberman’s inflammatory statements, such as Saturday’s call for Hamas’ leaders to be sent to “paradise,” have raised fears that peace efforts will be frozen.

Olmert has tried to distance himself from Lieberman, saying he remains committed to the U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan, which envisions an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

“His comments are his own. They don’t reflect Israeli policy,” Olmert’s spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, said Saturday.

Speaking to Israel Radio, Lieberman said he believes the Palestinians are not interested in setting up their own state, but rather in destroying Israel. He said Israel must abandon past peace deals.

Lieberman’s party, Yisrael Beiteinu, or “Israel Our Home,” has 11 seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament and provides a comfortable safety net to Olmert in parliament votes.