Ayalon: Abbas is only thinking about himself

Deputy FM says there are Palestinian leaders who understand statehood bid can hurt cause, PA president needs to return to negotiations.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Danny Ayalon 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Danny Ayalon 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is only thinking about himself, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said in an interview with Army Radio on Tuesday.
"There are Palestinian leaders who don't want unilateral moves and who understand that they [such moves] can hurt them," Ayalon explained.
RELATED:US Republicans take aim at Jewish vote in 2012 Perry to hold pro-Israel press conference this week
Saying that a UN resolution in favor of a Palestinian state will not actually lead to material results, the deputy reiterated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's earlier call to Abbas to restart direct negotiations.
When asked why Israel would not back the bid if it would not actually lead to the creation of a Palestinian state, Ayalon said that the move should have been done through cooperation and talks between the two sides and not "with them forcing it on us."
"They say they are against violence," Ayalon said referring to Palestinian officials' insistence that the campaign is peaceful, "but then they use political violence."
The minister said that he did not believe claims that the Palestinian Authority has a majority in the General Assembly or Security Council are true and suggested that they are only attempts at psychological intimidation.