Russians deal Lieberman 'slap' by endorsing Goldstone report

haaretz.com ^ | October 19, 2009 | Barak Ravid

[Tailgunner Joe]

Israel relayed a sharply worded protest to the Russian government following Russia's vote in favor of adopting the Goldstone report at the Human Rights Council in Geneva Friday, according to senior Foreign Ministry officials in Jerusalem.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman suffered a personal blow by the Russian vote, which went against the promises he received from his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, days prior to the vote at the United Nations body.

Russian officials clarified that Moscow would oppose any discussion of the Goldstone report by the UN Security Council, Israel Radio reported on Sunday night.

Russia's envoy to Israel met over the weekend with Foreign Ministry official Pinchas Avivi to hand him a letter of clarification from Lavrov about Russia's vote at the Human Rights Council, according to Israel Radio.

Sources at the Foreign Ministry, however, said that the Russians' behavior was tantamount to a "slap in the face for Lieberman," whose policy has been based on a "strategic dialogue" with Russia.

Notwithstanding his disappointment, Lieberman was careful not to attack the government in Moscow publicly. Other countries who were critical of Israel, such as Sweden, Norway, Turkey and China, were slammed by Lieberman.

However, Lieberman opted to keep a low profile, as he did earlier this year when Lavrov met with senior figures from Hamas. His office also refused to comment on this report.

Following the vote in Geneva Friday, the Russian government sought to appease Israel and Lavrov sent a message to Lieberman clarifying the Russian stance in the vote. However, a source in the Foreign Ministry said that Lieberman refused to accept the Russian's message.

[ari-freedom]

so you see lieberman, even the US under Obama is better for Israel than Russia and China

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

You have to wonder what Israeli military planners have been doing in the months in which Iran has been in their sights. A military axiom is that the longer you have to plan, the more you improve your plan, and the more directions you make to attack your enemy.

If the ultimate goal of the Israelis is to make Iran completely stop any more nuclear activities, then they will have to make the Iranians as repulsed by nuclear *anything* as were the Japanese at the end of World War II. But do so, hopefully, without an Iranian Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But *lots* of Iranians will have to die, and die pretty horribly.

Iran will have to learn that nuclear weapons are *not* just “big bombs”. It will have to be burned into their psyche.

Likely, Iran will have to have a nuclear “accident”. One of its nuclear facilities will have to spray contamination over a large populated city, so they will get to see what they missed seeing, what the rest of the world saw, with Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This disaster, in turn, will both expose to the world Iran’s efforts to create nuclear weapons, and will require international help in both the cleanup and care of the injured.

And officially, Israel will have nothing to do with it.

[SunkenCiv]

Notwithstanding his disappointment, Lieberman was careful not to attack the government in Moscow publicly. Other countries who were critical of Israel, such as Sweden, Norway, Turkey and China, were slammed by Lieberman.