The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Monday slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu' s statements related to supporting what he termed "the natural growth of settlements."
Netanyahu asserted that his government won't build new settlements in the West Bank, but it will bear in consideration the natural growth of Israeli settlements, which means expanding it, Xinhua reported.
Salah al-Ta'mari, President Mahmoud Abbas' advisor to Israeli settlement affairs, said in a statement sent to the press "This is a big fallacy by Netanyahu. It is a confirmation that he and his government are not interested in peace."
The expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, along with the recent Netanyahu's reservations on the U.S. two-state solution vision, have been the major reason behind freezing the peace negotiations between Israel and the PNA.
Abbas, who will hold talks in the White House later this week with U.S. President Barack Obama, insisted that he won't agree to resume peace talks with Israel unless it stops settlements and recognize the two-state vision.
"By the way, they (Israelis) also don't deny that they don't recognize the two-state solution," said al-Ta'mari, who has been recently nominated as Abbas advisor for settlements' affairs.
He added that "the remarks of Netanyahu and his ministers boost the fears of the Palestinian people and prove Abu Mazen (Abbas)'s proposal that the settlements must stop as a prelude to the peace process."
Commenting on Abbas' visit to the United States to talk with Obama, al-Ta'mari said, "The only evidence Obama owns to prove his commitment to peace is to press towards the end of the settlement activities and expansion."
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