Jerusalem, October 27: President Mahmoud Abbas intends to resign amid lack of progress in the Middle East peace process, as the chief Palestinian negotiator on Tuesday accused Tel Aviv of portraying the Palestinian Authority (PA) as “untrustworthy”, a media report said.
Palestinian President Abbas has told the White House that he intends to resign from his post, Israel’s Channel 10 reported, a move that could be a setback to efforts to rekindle the stalled peace process in Middle East.
Abbas told US officials that he sees no chance of advancing the peace process with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power, the report said.
Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator, today lashed out at Israel, saying Israel’s position on West Bank settlement building and other key issues was “intolerable.”
“You’re presenting us as “untrustworthy bastards,” while the fact of the matter is that you’re the ones foot-dragging and refusing to end the occupation,” Erekat told Israel’s Army Radio.
“Netanyahu says he is ready to return to negotiations, but this the same old tune,” he said, adding “Every [Israeli] government that comes along demands that we come to the discussions without pre-conditions, after we have already succeeded in reaching agreements with previous governments”.
Abbas, whose popularity among the Palestinians is at its lowest ever, also expressed his disappointment over US administration’s “capitulation” to Jerusalem on the issue of West Bank settlement construction, the TV report said.
The Palestinians have demanded a complete freeze of all Israeli settlement activities as a precondition to the resumption of peace negotiations.
While the Netanyahu led right-wing government has committed to not building any new settlements, it has insisted on continuing with ongoing building activities in the name of “natural growth” in existing settlements which Israel plans to annex in any final status agreement with the Palestinians.
According to Channel 10, Abbas also told the White House that the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) initial decision to defer a vote on the Goldstone Report at the United Nations Human Rights Council, which accused Israel of war crimes, was politically damaging.
PA had agreed to delay debating the report over concerns that going ahead could harm the fragile Middle East peace process but it led to protests and condemnations in the Palestinian territories and the Arab world, much to the glee of Abbas’ rivals, the Islamist Hamas.
The Palestinian leader is said to have sent a number of blunt, unequivocal messages to the White House, in the last few days, Channel 10 reported.
According to information available with Israeli officials, Abbas told the US President that he will not stand for re-election given the diplomatic stalemate with Israel, the report said.
The PA President also told the Americans that he sees no possibility that his Fatah faction, which currently rules the West Bank, can reach a reconciliation agreement with Hamas, the Islamist group which ousted Fatah in the Gaza Strip, Channel 10 said.
—Agencies