BICOM

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday told the Arab League assembled in Cairo he would not resume peace talks without an Israeli settlement freeze. Speaking before members of the League in Cairo, Abbas added that if Netanyahu did not respond positively to Ramallah’s terms of reference, the Palestinians would renew their efforts to “gain complete recognition for a Palestinian state” in the UN.  “We will wait for (Israel’s) response,” Abbas said, but if it fails to arrive we will “commence our plans related to the Security Council, the General Assembly and other UN bodies.”

Abbas has been under concerted international pressure to resume preliminary talks that began last month in Jordan. However, his comments in Cairo yesterday indicate hardened Palestinian positions.

Following the Arab League meeting, a source in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, quoted in a Ynetnews report, said Abbas’ speech indicated that he had “turned his back on peace.” Adding, that instead of entering negotiations that would bring an end to the conflict Abbas had chosen to link with “the terror organisation Hamas – the same Hamas that embraces Iran.”

Over the weekend Arab League Foreign Ministers also met to discuss the growing crisis in Syria. Following the meeting, the League called for the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that provides for an immediate ceasefire in Syria, a UN led peacekeeping force and urged Arab states to sever all diplomatic contact with President Bashar Assad’s regime. Syria’s state news agency said the regime rejected the Arab League’s decisions, which were taken without a Syrian representative present.