DM: We’re ready to open Syria crossing
‘A Palestinian state simply does not interest me,’ says Liberman
Israel is ready to reopen the Quneitra crossing with Syria, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced on Thursday. The crossing has been closed since rebel groups opposed to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad seized control of the area four years ago.
“We are ready to open the crossing as it was before. From a security and managerial point of view, everything is ready,” he said, adding, “The ball is in the Syrian side of the court.”
Liberman also dismissed US President Donald Trump’s statement that a two-state solution is the best solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying “I don’t care about a Palestinian state.”
“The Palestinian state simply does not interest me, what interests me is the Jewish state. And here there are many more acute problems,” he said during his visit to the
Quneitra crossing .
“The fact that in the State of Israel the Arabs make up 20% of the population and that they go out for demonstrations and protests with Palestinian flags and not with Israeli flags, I have a problem with that,” the defense minister said. “That’s the real problem, we have to worry about having a Jewish state, and the rest is less interesting.”
According to Liberman, Syrian police and customs agents are present on the Syrian side of the crossing, along with Russian military police and UN peacekeeping troops who are separately patrolling the area.
“The fact that we have come here, to Alpha Gate, and as far as we are concerned UNDOF forces have begun to operate and patrol with the Israeli military’s assistance, says that we are ready for the crossing to reopen,” Liberman said, referring to the UN Disengagement Observer Force.
Seven years after losing the area to rebel groups, Syrian troops have once again been deployed to the border with Israel.
In order to prevent any clashes between the two enemy countries, Russian military police have been deployed along the Golan Heights border, along with UN peacekeepers who returned to the area for the first time in early August.
According to UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq, a key goal in the full return of the UNDOF peacekeeping force is the reopening of the crossing.
Liberman stressed on Thursday that Israel was in daily contact with UNDOF troops along the buffer line, and while Israel has no interest in meddling in Syria’s civil war, it will work to ensure the security of Israeli citizens.
Israel, he stressed, demands that Syria abides by “every single section” of the 1974 Separation Of Forces Agreement.
“We are willing to bring life back to normal. Between the Alpha Gate and the Bravo Gate is the normality of this abnormal region,” he said.
Once the crossing is opened on the Syrian side, Druze farmers in Israel will again be able to sell their produce in Syria and Druze women will be allowed to cross into Syria in order to marry.
The reopening of the crossing, which would restore the situation along the border to what it was prior to Syria’s civil war, would not have any impact on Israel’s relationship with Syria or with Assad.
“As far as I’m concerned, [Assad] is a war criminal and all those international bodies that are so concerned about human rights, I do not see them acting on the Syrian side and
not asking for clarifications from Assad,” Liberman said.
Meanwhile, Liberman refused to comment on any developments regarding the diplomatic crisis with Russia following the downing of a Russian reconnaissance plane by Syria during an Israeli operation against Iranian targets last Monday.
“First of all, we value our relations with Russia, and the security coordination between the Russian Army and the IDF is very important,” he said, expressing Israel’s condolences for the deaths of the 15 Russian servicemen.
At the same, Liberman said, “we have no interest in having a conversation with Russia through the media. We have ways to communicate.” •