Israel says French president Sarkozy advised firing foreign minister with hardline views -- by Amy Teibel
French president Nicolas Sarkozy urged the Israeli prime minister to fire his foreign minister — a hard-liner whose party tried to force Israelis to take a loyalty oath, two senior Israeli officials said Tuesday. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's appointment has been ill-received internationally because of his hard-line positions on peace and Israel's Arab population, among other issues. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing EU ambassadors on Tuesday, expressed "full confidence" in the country's chief diplomat. "He is a man who is fully committed to peace and security for our country," Netanyahu said. "He is part of the democratically elected government of Israel which was elected with a clear mandate from the voters to achieve peace and security."
In May, Lieberman's party unsuccessfully tried to advance a proposal to strip the citizenship of Israelis who do not pledge loyalty to the state — a proposal viewed as aimed at Israel's Arab minority.
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