Hamdallah and Valls in Ramallah
Photo: AFP
Palestinian PM rejects Netanyahu's direct talks proposal
In meeting with French PM, Hamdallah accuses Netanyahu of 'trying to buy time' with offer to meet with Palestinian President Abbas one-on-one, 'but this time he will not escape the international community.'
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Tuesday dismissed an Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal for direct negotiations
instead of a French multilateral peace initiative,
calling it an attempt to "buy time."
Hamdallah made the comments as he met French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who has held talks in Israel and the Palestinian territories this week to push Paris's peace initiative.
"Time is short," Hamdallah said. "Netanyahu is trying to buy time... but this time he will not escape the international community."
Hamdallah and Valls in Ramallah (Photo: EPA)
Netanyahu has rejected the French plan and called for direct negotiations instead, arguing that "the Palestinian leadership doesn't see the French initiative as an inducement to compromise, but rather as a way to avoid it.
"In fact, the Palestinian Prime Minister, Hamdallah, let slip the other day his hope for an imposed timetable, rather than a negotiated peace."
Valls told Netanyahu when he met him on Monday that he would discuss his proposal with French President Francois Hollande, but he has insisted that Paris plans to stick with its approach.
The French initiative involves holding a meeting of foreign ministers from a range of countries on June 3, but without the Israelis and Palestinians present.
An international conference would then be held in the fall, with the Israelis and Palestinians in attendance. The goal is to eventually relaunch negotiations that would lead to a Palestinian state.
Negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.
