‘PA leader willing to forgo settlement freeze for peace talks’

Adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas tells Bloomberg that Abbas means to scale back diplomatic campaign against Israel • “We think it’s better to give this new [U.S.] administration a chance to deliver,” says Mohammad Mustafa.

ISRAEL HAYOM

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will shelve his demand that Israel freeze all construction in Judea and Samaria if peace talks are relaunched, as a gesture to U.S. President Donald Trump, the Bloomberg news agency reported Thursday.

Mohammad Mustafa, a former deputy PA prime minister and a close adviser to Abbas, told the news agency that Abbas, 82, intended to call a partial halt to the diplomatic onslaught against Israel in international institutions.

Abbas does not intend to make the settlements an “up-front issue” at this stage, Mustafa told Bloomberg, adding that “we think it’s better … to focus on giving this new administration a chance to deliver.”

Abbas has always conditioned direct peace talks with Israel on a freeze to all settlement construction, a policy previous U.S. administrations were happy to back.

Last month, Israel Hayom revealed that during a meeting in Washington, Trump made it clear to Abbas that if the PA persisted in imposing preconditions on peace talks with Israel, the Trump administration would prioritize a regional peace plan for normalization of ties between Israel and the Gulf Arab nations, even if the Palestinian-Israeli issue remained unresolved.

In March, Abbas told Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s chief Middle East peace negotiator, that the new president could help broker a deal that would bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Bloomberg reported that Abbas, speaking to Greenblatt, underscored his commitment to “an atmosphere that is conducive to making peace.”

June 8, 2017 | 5 Comments »

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  1. How is that a concession? We won’t object to you building as a condition for talking to you? Why does Israel need to talk to them? Or to get permission for anything for anybody? They are completely dependent on Israel for water, for energy, for lots of things and have no way of threatening Israel, just individual Jews, and they’re not going to stop the terror. .So, who the hell cares what they want?

  2. @ Miriam David:

    So, Abbas will talk for a while, walk for a while, riot for a while, talk some more. But, he gets the land. Each time, a little more. When will we wise up? It’s like Trump’s offhand remark about the UN just being about the food, drink and partying for the delegates. He wasn’t far off. And, it’s exactly what’s going on here.

    The news summary at the beginning of this Latma TV skit parodies this absurd dance of the gullible beautifully.

    Obama sings for Israel – Under the Sea

    https://youtu.be/cJtLGJKnvrQ

  3. @ MELECH david:
    The land in area C, according to what I read on Arutz Sheva, is a “gift” that PM Netanyhu wanted to give to encourage peace talks. Has he given the Jewish people such a kindness? We will get to suffer for his folly. That’s the best he can do for us.

  4. guess it’s trick or treat time early this year. nutuyahoo says he’s giving away area ‘c’ abbarse says the above. guess I get pied.