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Abbas. 'Israelis refusing deal'
Photo: Reuters

PA: Israel snubs talks with building plans

Plan for 625 new homes in Pisgat Ze'ev near east Jerusalem shows Jewish state 'not willing and not ready for any deal in order to resume the negotiations,' Palestinian President Abbas' spokesman says

Israel's plans for new building near east Jerusalem show it does not want to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday.

 

The United States has been trying to revive direct negotiations between Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but weeks of diplomacy have yet to yield a breakthrough.

 

The Palestinians want Israel to halt all construction on land where they aim to found an independent state, including areas in and around Jerusalem captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

 

"This Israeli signal shows that they are not willing and not ready for any deal in order to resume the negotiations," Nabil Abu Rdainah, Abbas's spokesman, told Reuters, condemning plans announced on Wednesday for 625 new homes in Pisgat Ze'ev.

 

Pisgat Ze'ev is built on West Bank land Israel annexed to its Jerusalem municipality immediately after the 1967 war. The annexation has never been recognized internationally.

 

Israel sees Pisgat Ze'ev and other districts it has built in and around Jerusalem since 1967 as part of its capital. The Palestinians regard them as settlements, a view supported by the European Union.

 

Message to PA, US?

Israel's building in and around Jerusalem has strained its ties with the United States this year. Washington says such building does not help peace negotiations.

 

Abbas and Netanyahu held three rounds of direct talks in September but the Palestinians withdrew from the negotiations three weeks after they started when Israel lifted restrictions on settlement building in the West Bank.

 

Netanyahu had imposed the restrictions for 10 months. He has faced strong opposition within his cabinet to any further curbs on settlement building. His government is dominated by parties that support the settlers, including his own Likud.

 

The United States has been in talks with Israel over a set of incentives designed to produce another settlement freeze that would allow the talks to resume.

 

Referring to the Pisgat Ze'ev building plans, Abu Rdainah said, "It looks like this is an Israeli message to the Palestinians and the Americans that they are refusing any deal resuming the negotiations."

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.02.10, 14:25
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