Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu "is not interested in halting building in the settlements," Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday, calling on the international community to pressure Israel into fulfilling its obligations.
In an interview to BBC Arabic, Abbas said Netanyahu did not believe in the two-state solution and had not kept agreements between Israel and the PA.
"The Palestinians must tell the world that Netanyahu does not believe in peace, so how can we cooperate with him? We must push the ball to the international court so that the countries of the world put pressure on him," he continued.
"We, on our side, fulfilled all our obligations as detailed by [former US President George W. Bush's] Road Map plan," Abbas said. "Now the world must make clear what Israel's obligations are. If we would not do our part, the world would make us do it." Israel, he said, must remove roadblocks and stop building in the settlements.
Abbas promised to continue peace negotiations with Netanyahu if he sees that the prime minister is committed to the peace process. "The Palestinian issue is a political one and not an economic one," Abbas said in apparent criticism of Netanyahu. Netanyahu has said several times that peace with the Palestinians must grow from economic cooperation, using the term "economic peace."
Abbas reiterated that his government would not deal with an Israeli government that did not adopt the two-state solution.
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