Jerusalem - Setting the stage for a possible showdown with the United States and the European Union, new Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday that Israel was not bound by the internationally-endorsed Annapolis peace process.

Instead, Lieberman said in a speech at the foreign ministry as he assumed his ministerial duties that Israel would be bound by the 2003, performance-based "road map" of the quartet of the US, EU, Russia and United Nations.

Jerusalem  - New Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday he has "respect" for Egypt and would be "happy" to visit there, but added he would expect reciprocal visits by his Egyptian counterpart.

In an address at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on his first day in office, Lieberman said Egypt was an "important" factor in preserving regional stability.

Jerusalem - Setting the stage for a possible showdown with the United States and the European Union, new Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday that Israel was not bound by the internationally-endorsed Annapolis peace process, which forms the basis for the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Jerusalem  - Avigdor Lieberman of the ultra-nationalist Israel Beiteinu party said Tuesday he will only join an Israeli coalition government that pledged to topple the Hamas regime in Gaza.

Tel Aviv  - The Israel Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party is the surprise package of Tuesday's election, a development due mainly to its leader Avigdor Lieberman.

The belligerent hawk has been riding a wave of rising support since a six-month truce in Gaza collapsed in early November, rocket attacks from the strip at southern Israeli towns and villages resumed, and Israel consequently launched a 22-day offensive in Gaza which ended little more than three weeks ago.