PA says Israel sent no word of Netanyahu-Abbas summit
Amid reports that during talks with Mubarak Netanyahu proposed Egyptian-hosted summit with Palestinian president, Abbas spokesman says face-to-face meeting would not constitute formal resumption of final-status negotiations
The Palestinian Authority said it has received no official request for a meeting between President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Ma'an News Agency reported Friday.
Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah was quoted by Ma'an as saying, “We didn’t receive anything about such a thing. So far what we heard was from the media."
"All that we know is that the president will be going to on Wednesday to meet (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak,” he added.
On Thursday, Israeli officials told Reuters Netanyahu had proposed an Egyptian-hosted summit with Abbas as a possible way to resume stalled peace talks.
They said Netanyahu mentioned the idea on Tuesday during talks with Mubarak in Cairo.
Abu Rdainah said there was no way of knowing whether Abbas would accept the request or not until he meets with Mubarak, adding that the Palestinian president would continue to insist that Netanyahu "comply with his country's obligation to freeze expansion of West Bank settlements built on land taken from Palestinians.
“These are requirements under the Road Map,” he said, referring to the US-backed peace plan.
According to Ma'an, the spokesman stressed that a face-to-face meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu would not constitute a formal resumption of final-status negotiations.
Netanyahu, a right-wing leader who took office in March, has repeatedly said he was ready to resume talks with Abbas, stalled since a three-week Gaza war launched last December and a subsequent Israeli election, without any conditions.
Abbas has insisted Israel freeze Jewish settlement building before the talks for a Palestinian state in territory Israel captured in a 1967 war may resume, and has rejected a temporary halt to construction ordered by Netanyahu as insufficient.
But in remarks marking the anniversary of his Fatah movement on Thursday, Abbas made just a passing reference to the settlements, and seemed to leave the door open to renewed talks.
"We are with the peace process," he said in a speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "Our hand will remain outstretched to peace, a just peace that ends the Israeli occupation".
Abbas also urged Israel to adopt an Arab peace plan that calls for a complete withdrawal from the West Bank in exchange for normalized ties with the Arab world.
Israeli media, quoting Palestinian and US diplomatic sources, reported Netanyahu was ready to negotiate a withdrawal to the 1967 borders as part of a land swap with Palestinians so Israel could keep some settlement blocs.
Reuters contributed to the report
