Abbas, a willing partner in peace - Peres
ISRAEL: President Shimon Peres on Sunday urged Israel to
resume peace talks with the Palestinians, saying their President Mahmud
Abbas was a willing partner with whom an agreement could be reached.
Speaking with Israeli diplomats at his Jerusalem residence, Peres
said the only way the Jewish state could positively affect the
fluctuating reality in the region was “to complete the peace agreement
with the Palestinians.” “I know there are different opinions,” he said.
“This is not a matter of ideology, this is a matter of appraising” the
situation.
“I have known Abu Mazen for 30 years, and nobody will change my
opinion of him,” Peres continued, using Abbas’s nom de guerre.
“I know there is criticism of things Abu Mazen said,” Peres
continued, but “there is currently no other Arab leader who is saying he
is in favour of peace, against terror, in favour of a demilitarised
state, and of... the Palestinian consensual right of return.” “There is
not much time left,” he warned.
Talks between the Israel and the Palestinians have been on hold since
September 2010, with the Palestinians insisting on a settlement freeze
before returning to the negotiating table and the Israelis insisting on
no preconditions.
Following last month’s historic United Nations vote giving the
Palestinians upgraded status in the world body, Israel announced a new
spate of settlement building in the West Bank and Israeli-annexed east
Jerusalem.
AFP |