The Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Council called last night on its leadership to suspend recognition of Israel until the latter recognized a state of Palestine within the pre-1967 borders, canceled its decision to annex East Jerusalem and stopped construction in Jewish settlements on lands the Palestinians demand for their future state. Salim al-Za’anoun, head of the Palestinian Central Council said, “We assign the Executive Committee of (of the Palestine Liberation Organization) to suspend the recognition of Israel until it recognizes the state of Palestine along the 1967 borders and revokes the decision to annex East Jerusalem and stopping settlement activity. Thirdly, the Central Council will renew its decision to suspend all forms of security coordination (with Israel),” he said.
The Palestinians’ Central Council’s summary announcement further asserted that the interim agreement decided upon in the Oslo Accords, which was signed in both Cairo and Washington, no longer existed, nor any of the accords’ commitments. The council has also reiterated its call to end any security cooperation with Israel in any form and also repeated its opposition to recognizing Israel as the Jewish state. It is important to note that while the council’s resolutions carry significant weight, they must be approved by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently on an official state visit to India, condemned the statements made by the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah. PM Netanyahu accused President Mahmoud Abbas of making his latest statements due to fear of an American peace initiative that would have ultimately brought about a viable solution to the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a reality Netanyahu claimed, “the Palestinians are not interested in.” Netanyahu assessed that the attempt to rule out Washington from its legitimate role as mediator, and to replace the United States with other parties, stems from a simple fact: “for too long the Palestinian Authority has been pampered by the international community, which did not dare tell them the truth; not on the matter of Jerusalem, not on the matter of recognizing the State of Israel and not on the matter of their other demands and measures.” Netanyahu further stressed, “They were always patted on the head, and this has changed. This is the first time that someone has told President Abbas the truth to his face.”