(Communicated by the Foreign Minister’s Bureau)
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman met with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini in Jerusalem. The two met for a very cordial dinner last night (Wednesday, 9 December).
FM Liberman thanked FM Frattini for the efforts of UNIFIL Force Commander Major General Claudio Graziano to reach an agreement concerning the village of Rajar, on the Lebanese border. Liberman stated his opinion that it is possible to reach a good agreement within a short time, but it is dependent upon the new government in Lebanon.
FM Liberman also thanked FM Frattini personally for his efforts to moderate the latest resolution of the EU foreign ministers. Liberman said that Israel made very difficult decisions regarding the settlements and is making additional efforts to resume the negotiations with the Palestinians, and it was therefore very disappointing to see the approach taken by the Swedish presidency and a number of states that followed its lead. However, Israel is grateful to Italy and other friends of Israel in the European Union for the steps they took to balance this approach.
The two foreign ministers also discussed bilateral topics, the Iranian threat and other issues.