Erekat says negotiations waste of time, warns of dissolution of PA

The interview also touched upon the recent wave of violence that has rocked Israel over the last three weeks.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Updated: OCTOBER 24, 2015 11:19
Saeb Erekat gives interview on Al-Jazeera English Oct. 2015
PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said Friday that there was no point in continuing peace negotiations with Israel, and warned that the the Palestinian Authority was on the verge of being dismantled, blaming continued settlement expansion and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to negotiate in good faith.
In an interview on Al-Jeezera English, the senior PA official complained that Israel's policies of near constant settlement construction and "dictates" were leading to a place where "Netanyahu will find himself the only [one] responsible between the river Jordan and the Mediterranean because he’s destroying the Palestinian Authority.”
"Netanyahu's strategy is to make us a Palestinian Authority without any authority, and he did that," Erekat added.
Asked by interviewer Mehdi Hasan if he had given up on negotiations with Netanyahu, Erekat responded by saying "yes, I think it’s a waste of time because the man wants to dictate rather than negotiate.”
Erekat was then asked if he was going to follow up on threats he made earlier in the year to dissolve the PAin December, in which he replied: "soon, very soon, you're going to hear some decisions... the PA has been finished by Netanyahu," adding that the Palestinians will not maintain the status-quo, leaving Israel to resume responsibility over the West Bank.
The interview also touched upon the recent wave of violence that has rocked Israel over the last three weeks, being asked if the PA was both inciting violence and not doing enough to condemn Palestinian terror attacks.
“We don't condone the killing of people, we want to make peace, we want to save lives, Israelis and Palestinians,” Erekat said.


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