Palestinians on Monday rejected the three components Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named as the basis for a peace agreement with the Palestinians, with Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat terming them "unacceptable."
"There is a difference between negotiations and dictation," Erekat told a news conference in Ramallah, commenting on Netanyahu's statement that any peace deal should be based on an end to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, recognition of Israel as "the national state of the Jewish People" and "real and sustainable security arrangements on the ground."
The Israeli leader outlined components to his cabinet Sunday, while discussing the announcements made Friday in Washington and in Brussels that direct peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians will begin next month, DPA reported.
However Erekat said the talks would come to an end if Israel resumed construction in West Bank settlements once a 10-month building freeze ends on September 26.
He said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had written to the so- called Quartet of the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union, expressing the hope they would force Israel to stop its settlement activities.
The upcoming negotiations will be the first direct peace talks between the sides in nearly two years. The last round of direct negotiations was suspended in late 2008, as Israel entered the election campaign which ultimately brought Netanyahu to power.
Indirect talks between the sides, mediated by US envoy George Mitchell, got under way in spring this year.