Erekat: Palestinian state is coming, Israel can't stop it

PA chief negotiator says in interview that there is no partner in Israel; "Abbas is not threatening an intifada. We want negotiations."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Saeb Erekat 311 AP (photo credit: AP)
Saeb Erekat 311 AP
(photo credit: AP)
Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat on Sunday confirmed his instance that a Palestinian state will be created soon. "A Palestinian state is coming, with 1967 borders and with a capital in east Jerusalem, and Israel cannot stop it anymore," he said  during an interview with Army Radio.
"The prime minister told us we should not wait for the next government. However we are not waiting for it, we are waiting for you," Erekat said referring to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
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Erekat said nothing is happening behind the scenes regarding peace negotiations "I don't know what is happening with Israel. I don't understand your behavior. We don't have an Israeli partner for peace."
When asked about PA President Mahmoud Abbas's comments on Friday that the failure of the peace process could lead to an intifada, Erekat said: "He [Abbas] is not threatening an intifada. We want negotiations. We want a Palestinian state through an agreement. But if there is no agreement or solution when September comes, the alternative may be a type of intifada."
"But for now we are searching for a partner in Israel and we want a halt in settlement construction."
Erekat also called a "joke" a recently drafted map which designates a Palestinian state in provisional borders created by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, according to a report in Haaretz Sunday morning.
He said: "I call on Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Lieberman to go one step ahead and recognize a Palestinian state."
In related news, former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurei said Sunday that the PA's move to ask the UN Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements is a unilateral step, "but it comes in response to unilateral Israeli measures."
In an interview with Army Radio, Qurei, who is more commonly known as Abu Ala, said: "All the agreements signed with Israel say that unilateral steps are forbidden, but the settlements are just such a move. In order for negotiations to succeed, it is important that we stop unilateral moves." 
Qurei also said that Palestinians insist on obtaining recognition for a Palestinian state within 1967 borders, despite Israeli opposition, because "Since the PLO accepted Security Council resolutions 242 and 228, efforts got underway to get international recognition of Palestinian rights and a state, and this continues today. Some countries that have not yet done their part to recognize Palestinian rights, are doing so today. There's nothing obscene about it and it's nothing new."