Barak: Hamas will come to power in West Bank if Abbas falls

Defence Minister Ehud Barak has come out in strong disagreement with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman's following his call for the Palestinian Authority president to be ousted.

Reports from both the Jerusalem Post and Hareetz state that Mr. Barak took issue with Mr. Liberman's stated contention that Mahmoud Abbas -- the current president of the Palestinian Authority -- is "the biggest obstacle to peace." In a statement issued from Mr. Barak's office, the defence minister stated that, "Lieberman's comments about the Palestinian Authority and its president do not represent Israeli policy, and harm Israeli interests." Mr. Barak even went as far as to say that if Abbas were to lose power and as a result "Liberman's dream were to be realized" Hamas may rise to power in the ensuing power vacuum in the West Bank. Lieberman has been asserting for some time now that as long as Abbas is the President of the Palestinian Authority there would be no chance of reaching a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. These latest comments follow statements made by Abbas during his speech at the UN where he claimed that Israel was guilty of "ethnic cleansing" and of carrying out a "policy of war, occupation and settlement colonization." Barak however believes that the situation on the ground in the West Bank with regard to the security of the Israeli state "is in a very good place compared to any other time." He believes this to be the case because of both the IDF presence on the ground as well as the cooperation of the security forces of Mr. Abbas's Palestinian Authority.