Liberman: Arabs 'must come out of the closet'

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman this week offered “full diplomatic relations with the Persian Gulf states” in the context of a regional peace deal involving the Palestinians.

Liberman was expansive in his comments to Ben Caspit:

“Just think about Israel’s technological and scientific know-how joining forces with the Saudi and Gulf financial powerhouses. But the Arab world must come around and understand that it needs to come out of the closet and start talking to us out in the open. I am talking about full diplomatic and commercial ties. The Palestinian problem could be resolved, as could our problem with Arab Israelis.”

Liberman’s initiative taps into a constituency and rationale in Israel for a regionally-based peace effort.