The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday rejected Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu’s address to Congress and said that his policies won’t lead to peace.
The PA also rejected Netanyahu’s call to cancel the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas.
RELATED:Erekat: Israeli recognition of '67 lines only way to peacePA may abandon statehood drive if ’67 lines acceptedMoussa: Israel 'not serious' about peace negotiationsNabil Abu Rudaineh, spokesman for
President Mahmoud Abbas, said the PA won’t agree to any Israeli presence in a
Palestinian state.
Abu Rudaineh was referring to Netanyahu’s statement
that Israel must maintain control over the Jordan Valley.
“We won’t
accept any Israeli presence in the Palestinian state, especially along the
Jordan River,” Abu Rudaineh said.
“What Netanyahu proposed in his speech
won’t lead to peace, but would instead place more obstacles in front of the
peace process.”
Abu Rudaineh said that for the Palestinians, peace means
the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines with east Jerusalem
as its capital.
“Peace must be achieved on the basis of international
legitimacy and negotiations and not on the basis of preconditions and obstacles
to peace,” he added.
PLO and Fatah official Saeb Erekat said Netanyahu’s
speech proved to Palestinians and Arabs that they don’t have a peace partner in
Israel.
He also rejected Netanyahu’s call to scrap the reconciliation
agreement with Hamas. The PA won’t abandon the accord in any way, “because peace
is based on reconciliation,” Erekat said.
Netanyahu is “not a man of
peace and did not bring anything new.”
He also accused Netanyahu of
“mixing history with geography” in his speech.
The head of the Arab
League said Netanyahu’s comments on what is necessary for peace with the
Palestinians “are unworkable and do not allow for peace.”
Arab League
Secretary-General Amr Moussa made the remarks on his Twitter account, saying
that “when Netanyahu says Jerusalem will remain Israeli and will never be given
to the Palestinians I say that there will never be peace.”
Bloomberg
contributed to this report.