Israel should topple the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, if he presses ahead with a request for recognition of the state of Palestine by the United Nations general assembly in two weeks' time, the hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has urged.
In a draft paper distributed to the media, Lieberman argued that overthrowing the Palestinian leadership was Israel's only viable option, faced with the certainty of an overwhelming vote in support of the Palestinian bid.
"A reality in which the United Nations recognises a Palestinian state according to a unilateral process will destroy all Israeli deterrence and completely harm its credibility," the paper said.
"Although this step is not simple, considering the implications that Israel will have to deal with, the only other option in this case would be the toppling of Abbas's government … The other option, of containment or a softer response, would be seen as raising a white flag."
Lieberman's extreme stance comes as the Israeli cabinet is considering a range of punitive measures it could take in response to the vote, expected on 29 November. These include the full or partial annulment of the 1993 Oslo Accords, financial penalties and an acceleration of settlement expansion.
The minister of strategic affairs, Moshe Yaalon, warned the Palestinians would pay a "heavy price" if they submitted a resolution seeking "non-member state" status at the UN general assembly. It would be a "flagrant breach" of the Oslo Accords, which provided for a limited measure of self rule for the Palestinians, he told army radio.
Another government minister, Gilad Erdan, called for the immediate annexation of all Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
The Palestinians have rejected a personal appeal from President Barack Obama to postpone the vote, instead choosing to submit a resolution on the anniversary of the UN's approval in 1947 of a plan to partition what was then Palestine. They are expected to win the support of around 150 of the UN's 193 member states, and need only a simple majority for the resolution to pass.
A move to win admission to the UN as a full member state stalled last autumn after the US pledged to exercise its power of veto in the security council; no country has the right of veto in the general assembly.
"It is now irreversible," said an Israeli government official. "The Palestinians will win, but the quality of the vote is what counts. If you win a vote with your major pillars of support as Zimbabwe, North Korea, Iran and Cuba, it comes with only so much moral authority."
Israel is concentrating its diplomatic offensive on European Union countries, which are divided in their positions. Lieberman held a three-day meeting in Vienna last week with Israeli ambassadors to EU nations to brief them on the consequences of a vote in favour of Palestinian statehood in order for them to step up pressure on their host governments.
Israel believes the Palestinians have the support of up to seven EU countries – Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Greece, Cyprus and Malta – but wants to maximise the number of nations opposing the resolution. It particularly wants to secure the opposition of the "big three" – Britain, France and Germany.
None has yet declared how it will vote, but the French president, François Hollande, told a Paris press conference on Tuesday he could not rule out the possibility of France supporting the Palestinian initiative.
The Israeli foreign ministry sent a diplomatic cable on Sunday to all Israeli representatives across the globe warning that the Palestinian resolution was a "clear violation of the fundamental principle of negotiations".
It continued: "The adoption of the resolution will give Israel the right to re-evaluate previous agreements with the [Palestine Liberation Organisation] and consider cancelling them partially or completely, and would make progress in the peace process more difficult in the future."
The Palestinian initiative was "a fundamental breach of agreements", said an Israeli government source. "If a contract is broken, it's broken. We have no framework, and the situation is very dangerous."
However, almost all steps being considered by the Israeli cabinet have potentially negative consequences for Israel as well as the Palestinians. Instability or a return to violence could follow the imposition of measures that would threaten the ability of the PA to govern in the West Bank.
According to a government source, the Israeli cabinet has discussed a number of possible measures, but has taken no concrete decisions. Among a "toolbox" of actions under consideration are:
• full or partial annulment of the Oslo Accords, under which the Palestinian Authority (PA) was established
• withholding tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the PA
• cancellation of permits for thousands of Palestinian labourers to work in Israel
• withdrawal of travel privileges for senior PA officials
• acceleration of building programmes in West Bank settlements
• unilateral annexation of the main Jewish settlement blocks.
Lieberman's draft paper proposed Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state on provisional borders encompassing around 40% of the West Bank in exchange for the Palestinian leadership dropping its approach to the United Nations.
Israel's general election in January may be encouraging some politicians to put forward radical proposals in the belief these will shore up their support among the Israeli public.
The UnS is also expected to impose punitive measures in response to a vote in favour of Palestinian statehood at the general assembly. The US Congress froze $200m (£126m) of aid to the Palestinians in response to their bid for full membership of the UN last September. Despite the decision later being overturned, the money has still not been released.
Palestinian UN statehood bid: Israel threatens to overthrow Abbas
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Originally Posted by Markas
