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'Time running out.' Abdullah
Photo: AFP

Abdullah: Israel may have to choose – democracy or 'apartheid'

Jordanian king tells Washington Post Israel shifted view on Palestinian issue only after Islamist parties won overwhelming majority in Egypt elections

Jordan's King Abdullah urged Israel to act quickly in order to jumpstart the stalled peace negotiations with the Palestinians as long as a two-state solution remains viable.

 

Otherwise, he told the Washington Post, Israel will have to choose between democracy and "apartheid."

 

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Speaking with the Washington Post following his meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington on Tuesday, Abdullah warned the two sides of the possible consequences of missing the opportunity for peace, saying that if "we haven’t crossed that line, we’ll cross the line sooner or later where the two-state solution is no longer possible, at which point the only solution is the one-state solution."

 

"And then, are we talking about apartheid or democracy?" Abdullah asked.

 


עבדאללה ואובמה. ייפגשו היום שוב (צילום: רויטרס)

'Waiting is the worst mistake.' Abdullah and Obama (Photo: Reuters) 

 

The monarch said Israel would be making a grave mistake if it would further delay the resumption of peace talks. "The more the Israelis play with kicking this down the line, the more they are in danger of losing what they think is the ideal future Israel,” Abdullah told the US newspaper, adding that "waiting is the worst mistake the Israelis can make."

 

"It wasn’t until the elections in Egypt (in which Islamist parties won an overwhelming majority) that suddenly Israel awoke… Now I think there has been a big shift in the way the Israelis look at the issue, and it is imperative for them… (to) get the Israeli-Palestinian issue off the menu," Abdullah said.

 

The Jordanian ruler said Israel and the Palestinians must first reach an agreement on borders and security arrangements before moving talks forward. 

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that during talks in Amman earlier this month Israel relayed to the Palestinians a position paper containing 21 points on which there is domestic political consensus.

 

However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told a press conference in London, "I can not say that Netanyahu is misleading, but I can say that he hasn't presented anything and that he refuses to stop settlement construction."

 

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are expected to meet again on January 25. The Palestinians have said they do not believe the talks will yield the results and claimed Abdullah is disappointed with Israel's positions.

 

 

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פרסום ראשון: 01.17.12, 12:58
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