Jerusalem: 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.
Bureau Report
