The Palestinian Authority said Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not ready for peace, dpa reported.
Netanyahu had rejected US President Barack Obama's call for Palestinian-Israeli negotiations to be based on the 1967 borders, adjusted by some land swaps.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu had actually rejected Obama's initiative to relaunch the peace process.
The Israeli premier's position, he said, "is an official declaration that he is not ready for real peace based on justice and international principles."
He said the core issues, including refugees, will be resolved through negotiations and not by statements to the media.
Abu Rudeineh rejected Netanyahu's call for Abbas to choose between peace with Israel and reconciliation with the Islamist Hamas movement, saying the reconciliation and the proposed government resulting from the reconciliation agreement are internal Palestinian affairs.
"This is an internal Palestinian affair, and the government is going to be independent and have nothing to do with (Abbas') Fatah or Hamas. Its programme is that of President Abbas," he said. "Netanyahu is only trying to find excuses to avoid sitting at the negotiating table."
...