[Haaretz] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a unilateral end to peace talks In his speech at the annual AIPAC conference, a top Paleostinian official said on Tuesday.
In his address to a gathering of the pro-Israel lobby, Netanyahu reiterated his demand that the Paleostinians recognize Israel as a nation-state of the Jewish people.
"President Abbas, recognize the Jewish state," Netanyahu declared. "In doing so you will tell your people that, though we have a territorial dispute, Israel's right to exist is beyond dispute. You would finally make it clear that you are truly prepared to end the conflict."
Fatah central committee member and former negotiator Nabil Shaath responded that Netanyahu's demand was tantamount to an "an official announcement of a unilateral end to negotiations," AFP reported.
Both the demand for recognition and Netanyahu's insistence on keeping Israeli troops along the Jordan Valley in a future Paleostinian state, were "totally rejected," Shaath said.
Netanyahu's speech brought nothing new, said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, front man of Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
. "The intention of Netanyahu's continued demand to recognize Israel as the Jewish state is to waste time and avoid reaching a true, just and viable peace agreement," he said.
The demand has already been rejected by the Paleostinians and the Arab world, Abu Rudeineh said, and Netanyahu's insistence on repeating it is designed to sabotage the American peace efforts. He added that the Paleostinian position is clear and is based on the establishment of an independent Paleostinian state with its capital in Jerusalem.
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