Arab-Israeli city Umm al-Fahm figures in Liberman's land-swap plan
Israel's foreign minister is pushing for attaching the town of Umm al-Fahm, synonymous in Israel with loyalty to the Palestinian cause, to the future Palestinian state.
As if there were not enough obstacles facing the negotiators in the faltering talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman has added another stumbling block. At the Jan. 5 annual Foreign Ministry conference of Israeli ambassadors and after a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Liberman set a new condition.
“I will not support an accord unless it includes land and population swaps,” he announced. In case anyone didn’t get the point, Liberman went on to explain, “I am referring to the Triangle and Wadi Ara [concentration of Israeli Arab towns in the northern district of Israel]. I’m not talking about [population] transfer or [evacuation] as in disengagement; no one is being evicted from their homes and no one is being dispossessed of their possessions. Everyone will remain in place. Only the border will move in the direction of Road 6.”
