March 31 (Reuters) - The naming of far-right leader Avigdor Lieberman as Israeli foreign minister on Tuesday raises concerns he could try to translate anti-Arab rhetoric into policies that may undermine Western-backed peace efforts in the Middle East. Analysts say incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to take the lead on critical diplomatic issues but that Lieberman's presence may cause turbulence in foreign relations. * Palestinians and Arab countries have been alarmed at the naming of Soviet-born Lieberman to Israel's top diplomatic post, given his notoriety for making remarks they view as anti-Arab. His impact on Middle East diplomacy may be blunted by Netanyahu's pledge to closely oversee these contacts, but Lieberman's presence, even if largely symbolic, may prove an irritant in peace talks. * Any steps by Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu Party to introduce legislation on citizenship that is unpopular with Israel's 20 percent Arab population could jeopardise diplomacy and further harm Israel's already fragile ties with neighbouring Jordan and Egypt, the only Arab nations to have peace treaties with the Jewish state. Lieberman campaigned in a Feb. 10 election on a slogan "no loyalty, no citizenship", seen as urging the deportation of Israeli Arab citizens charged with involvement with or advocating the actions of militants based in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank. * Lieberman's penchant for angry outbursts, including past insults of Arab leaders, could crimp his room for manoeuvre on the world diplomatic stage. His taunt of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak last year that he should "go to hell" unless he agreed to make an official visit to the Jewish state, greatly embarrassed Israeli President Shimon Peres and outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, both of whom offered profuse apologies. * Lieberman's outspoken opposition to removing Jewish settlements from the occupied West Bank in exchange for peace could make him a formidable political obstacle to any attempts by Netanyahu to win cabinet approval a U.S.-brokered deal with Palestinians or another Arab country. Lieberman abruptly quit a cabinet post in Olmert's government last year, in protest against Washington-sponsored peace talks with Palestinians under way at that time. * Lieberman, who quit Olmert's coalition after he began peace talks with the Palestinians late in 2007, could also hamper further talks by insisting, as he has in the past, that Israel propose swapping towns where Israeli Arabs live in exchange for Israel annexing some of the settlements built in the West Bank. Arabs have denounced the idea as racist.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai (R) shakes hands with United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon at the start of a U.N.-backed conference on Afghanistan in The Hague March 31, 2009. Karzai told the ...
Israel
