Abbas ready to work with any Israel govt committed to 2 states

The Palestinians will deal with any Israeli government that abides by a UN General Assembly resolution calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, an official said Wednesday Maan reported.

President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman said that "this is the way we will deal with the coming Israeli government, which has to choose between peace and stalemate that can be negative to all parties."

Nabil Abu Rudeina added that "we are ready to work with any government in Israel that accepts the existing international terms of reference that are based on UN resolutions," the PA's Wafa news agency reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged the bruised winner of Israel's election on Tuesday, claiming victory despite unexpected losses to resurgent center-left challengers.

Exit polls showed the Israeli leader's Likud party, yoked with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu group, would still be the biggest bloc in the 120-member assembly with 31 seats, 11 fewer than the 42 they held in the previous parliament.

If the exit polls compiled by three local broadcasters prove correct - and they normally do in Israel - Netanyahu would be on course for a third term in office, perhaps leading a hardline coalition that would promote Jewish settlement on occupied land.

But his weakened showing in an election he himself called earlier than necessary could complicate the struggle to forge an alliance with a stable majority in parliament.