Palestinians Slam Lieberman Mosque Visit as 'Provocation'

The Palestinian Authority on Monday slammed a pre-election visit by hardline Israeli nationalist leader Avigdor Lieberman to a West Bank mosque as a "provocation" and "completely unacceptable."

"This visit is a provocation to Palestinian feeling," government spokeswoman Nour Odeh told Agence France Presse. "Especially by Lieberman, who has declared his aggression against the Palestinian people and who supports settlement."

Former foreign minister Lieberman, whose Yisrael Beitenu party is fighting next week's general election in alliance with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud, visited Jewish settlers in and around Hebron on Monday.

The Likud-Beitenu alliance is seeking to woo settler votes under fire from the up and coming religious-nationalist Jewish Home party.

During his visit to the city Lieberman called at the flashpoint religious site known as the Cave of the Patriarchs to Jews and the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslims.

"We see any attempt by any Israeli to involve religious sites in the confrontation as completely unacceptable," Odeh said.