Abbas: Netanyahu must choose between settlements and peace

Abbas: Netanyahu must choose between settlements and peace

Wrapping up Egypt trip, PA president says Israel can easily leave settlements, as it has in the past in SinaiBy TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF May 18, 2013, 10:57 am 23



Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waves to the crowd during celebrations for their successful bid to win UN statehood recognition on Dec. 2, 2012.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “must choose between building settlements and negotiating peace,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday at a press conference in Cairo.

“Israel can easily leave settlements, as it has in the past. Israel gave up settlements in Sharm el-Sheikh and the Sinai, and removed 20 of them in just 24 hours,” Army Radio quoted Abbas as saying.

The Palestinian Authority president was concluding a three-day visit to the Egyptian capital, during which he met with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to discuss progress in his Fatah faction’s reconciliation efforts with Hamas, and with Arab League Chief Nabil al-Arabi to discuss the latest developments in the region and the stalled peace process.

“If the Americans want to help, then the settlement activity has to stop,” added Abbas, according to Daily News Egypt. He also praised the Obama administration for its “sincere intentions” to bring both sides to the negotiating table.

Abbas was also quoted by the Egyptian daily as saying that peaceful methods were the only way for Palestinians to “get back their land according to the 1967 borders.”

“After attaining non-member observer status at the United Nations, our relation with the Americans became tepid, but after the latest meetings with [US Secretary of State] John Kerry, the communication is back between us.”

Kerry is due in Israel and the Palestinian territories for a short visit on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Israel announced that it was looking into legalizing four outposts in the West Bank, one of which was due to be demolished. Givat Assaf was scheduled for demolition over a year ago. The other three — Mitzpeh Lachish, Givat Haroeh and Maale Rehavam — have also been ruled as unauthorized settlements.

Peace Now said the announcement was “a slap to the face” to Kerry, who is trying to restart the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. ”Instead of safeguarding the country’s interests, the defense minister is protecting the hilltop youth,” the group said in a statement.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US won’t “accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity.”

“Continued settlement activity is counterproductive to the cause of peace,” she told reporters. “An independent Palestine must be viable, with real borders that have to be drawn.”

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