Former and future Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday said there was little-to-no hope that any significant progress would be made in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in the near future, despite the high-profile appointment of Tzipi Livni as the new minister in charge of negotiations.
Speaking at an event marking the formation of Israel's new government, Lieberman said, "The Palestinian issue has not progressed in the past four years, and it will not progress in the next four years either."
Incoming Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon stressed that the reason for this lack of progress is Palestinian intransigence.
"We are prepared to talk and hold negotiations [with the Palestinians] without any preconditions," Danon told The Times of Israel. “But in the government there are many who believe that there is no one on the other side who is interested in advancing the peace process."
Both Lieberman and Danon said they would not allow false hopes of a breakthrough prevent Jews from building in their ancestral lands of Judea and Samaria, and therefore would fight any settlement freeze pushed by Livni.
A poll conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News revealed that the vast majority of Americans (69%) also have little hope in the peace process, and want Washington to stop meddling in the matter.