Far-right Israeli minister on Europe trip

ISRAEL’S ultra-nationalist foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, pictured, was to leave yesterday on his first official trip abroad, aiming to reassure the Europeans amid rising tensions over the stalled peace process.

The minister, who has triggered controversy over his virulently anti-Arab stance, will tell the Europeans to be patient while Israel’s new right-leaning cabinet draws up its official policy on peacemaking, officials said. “He will ask that the Europeans wait a bit until the government presents its new policy,” foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.

Lieberman’s five-day tour will take him to Rome, Paris, Prague and Berlin.