Abbas: Two-state solution impossible under Netanyahu's rule

PA president points to PM's remarks as "proof" that the next Israeli government will not seriously attempt to resolve the Mideast conflict.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Netanyahu and Abbas (photo credit: REUTERS)
Netanyahu and Abbas
(photo credit: REUTERS)
As the Likud party secured a sweeping win in Israeli elections, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas charged Thursday that the possibility of achieving a two-state solution would be impossible with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power, AFP reported.
The PA president lambasted the premier after he appeared to walk back his support for a Palestinian state ahead of the Israeli election.
"Netanyahu's statements against a two-state solution and against a Palestinian state... are proof, if correct, that there is no seriousness in the (future) Israeli government about a political solution," AFP quoted Abbas as saying.
Abbas's comments came a day after his spokesman had emphasized that the Palestinians were in favor of any Israeli leader whose policy supported the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
As election results streamed in Wednesday, Abbas's spokesman said that the Palestinian Authority wanted whichever Israeli government was formed to recognize the two-state solution with east Jerusalem serving as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh was cited by the Bethlehem-based Ma'an News Agency as saying that the PA would continue to work with any Israeli government that recognizes "legitimate international resolutions."
If the Israeli government should prove that it is not committed to a two-state solution, then there is no chance for a resumption of the peace process, Abu Rudeineh added.
Meanwhile, the White House has expressed severe concern regarding the Likud leader's campaign rhetoric and noted turnaround against the establishment of a Palestinian state, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The report quoted several administration officials as saying the Obama administration is now seriously considering agreeing to the passage of a United Nations Security Council resolution "embodying the principles of a two-state solution that would include Israel’s 1967 borders with Palestine and mutually agreed swaps of territory."
Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report.