At a meeting in Paris last week, Sarkozy is said to have told Netanyahu he needed to “get rid” of his Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, Sarkozy went on to suggest that Netanyahu replace him with Tzipi Livni, the former foreign minister. Lieberman has a long history of controversial comments that have led many critics to brand him as anti-Palestinian, if not an outright racist (Lieberman recently suggested Israel’s Arab population should take “loyalty oaths” to Israel or be stripped of their citizenship). But Lieberman used the third-place finish of his political party, Israel Our Home, in last February’s elections to force Netanyahu to give him a plum position in the new government.
Lieberman’s office slammed Sarkozy for meddling in Israel’s internal affairs, while Netanyahu gave his “full confidence” to his foreign minister. And this isn’t the first time Sarkozy has caused a stir in international politics lately – his perceived snub of Queen Elizabeth II cast a shadow over the D-Day commemorations earlier this month, and French-Chinese relations are still suffering following his decision last year to basically treat the Dalai Lama as a visiting head of state, much to the annoyance of China, which views the Dalai Lama not as a spiritual leader, but a political troublemaker who continually focuses the world’s attention onto China’s actions in Tibet.
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