BICOM

In a wide-ranging interview with the Associated Press, to mark four years of his presidency, President Shimon Peres yesterday expressed his scepticism regarding Palestinian plans to seek recognition at the United Nations General Assembly for a unilateral declaration of statehood this September. Peres said that such a move would be detrimental, since it would raise false hopes, while changing little in reality. He noted that the UN has proved incapable of addressing a variety of international issues, and asked how, then, it was expected that this declaration would affect the reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

With his comments, Peres joined other world leaders, including US President Barack Obama and European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, urging the Palestinians not to follow through with the UN resolution. Senior Palestinian officials have acknowledged they are having second thoughts, but insist they will press forward if peace talks do not resume.

Peres also expressed fears regarding Israel’s future as a Jewish State, if there is no substantive progress on the Israeli-Palestinian track. He said that he was worried that if the talks remained frozen, Israel was in danger of becoming a de-facto bi-national state. He also expressed concern at the possibility of economic boycotts against Israel as a result of the freeze in the diplomatic process. He said that he considered the barriers to a successful resolution to the peace process to be ‘more psychological than material’, and dismissed claims of vast gaps separating the positions of the Palestinian Authority leadership and the government of Israel

The president reiterated demands that Hamas accept the Quartet principles – commitment to prior agreements, abandonment of violence and acceptance of Israel’s right to exist – as conditions for its involvement in the diplomatic process. He suggested that such a move would enable talks between Israel and a unified Palestinian leadership.