'If Abbas accepts Jewish State, 90% of conflict resolved'

Cabinet secretary Zvi Hauser says Netanyahu's speech to US Congress successfully "put the ball in the Palestinians' court".

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Hauser Netanyahu 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Hauser Netanyahu 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Cabinet secretary Zvi Hauser on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made clear in his speech to the US Congress that "the ball is now in the Palestinians' court" and if PA President Mahmoud Abbas accepts Israel as a the Jewish State, "ninety percent of the conflict will be resolved," Israel Radio reported.
Hauser stated that all remaining problems could be negotiated, but it seems that there is "not the slightest hint that the Palestinians were willing to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people".
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The cabinet secretary said that Netanyahu expects Abbas to renounce Fatah's unity agreement with Hamas.
Hauser would not give any specifics into Netanyahu's claims in the speech that some settlements would end up beyond Israel's border as part of an agreement with the Palestinians.
He said that the prime minister's point was that he is willing to give the Palestinians an offer "generous enough" to lead to a peace agreement.
Hauser said that by doing so, Netanyahu showed that the problem was not territory, but rather the Palestinian refusal to accept Israel.
The prime minister was scheduled to return to Israel on Wednesday afternoon.