A senior US envoy warned the Palestinian president that he must move quickly to direct talks with Israel if he wants President Barack Obama’s help in setting up a Palestinian state, according to an internal Palestinian document obtained by The Associated Press on Monday.
US Envoy George Mitchell told Abbas he should seize the fleeting opportunity and not waste time, the memo said. He cautioned Abbas not to count on Netanyahu being replaced by another Israeli leader anytime soon, the document said.
The 36-page memo, sent to senior Palestinian officials, advised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resist growing US pressure, warning that rescinding his conditions for face-to-face negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be “political suicide.”
Abbas has said he won’t resume talks that broke off in December 2008 unless Netanyahu accepts the idea of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, with some alterations, and freezes all settlement building there.
Netanyahu refuses to commit to anything before the start of talks, but has said he will not give up east Jerusalem. On Monday, he strongly indicated that he would not extend a 10-month freeze on housing starts in West Bank settlements beyond September.
The Palestinian memo was distributed just before a crucial meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Thursday.
The ministers are set to decide whether they favor a move to direct talks or support the Palestinian position that US shuttle diplomacy should be allowed to run its course.
Indirect talks, with Mitchell meeting separately with Abbas and Netanyahu, began in early May and were to last up to four months, until early September.
However, in recent days, the US has stepped up pressure on Abbas to go to direct talks now.
(Source: Ynet)
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Its all a major chulem that there will ever be true sholom before moshiach comes. Trust me, once the arabs yemach sh’mom see Har HaZeysim splitting, they will BEG for peace.