JERUSALEM: Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said today that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had "lost his senses" following his fiery speech against President Donald Trump.

Lieberman told Israel's Army Radio that Abbas' address symbolised his giving up on the prospect of peace negotiations and opting instead for a confrontation with both Israel and the United States.

Abbas sharply escalated his rhetoric in a speech on Sunday, lashing out at Trump over recent policy moves, such as recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Abbas also slammed Trump's recent Twitter comment threatening to cut American aid and alleging the Palestinians are no longer willing to negotiate a peace deal with Israel.

"Since when did we reject negotiations?" Abbas told members of the Palestinian Central Council, a key decision- making body. "Shame," Abbas said, addressing Trump.

To laughter from the crowd, Abbas then added the phrase "Yehreb Beitak," literally translated as "may your house be demolished." In colloquial Palestinian Arabic, the phrase can have different connotations, from a harsh to a casual insult, but its use in a widely watched speech seemed jarring.

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settler Jewish Home Party, said the content and style of the speech represented Abbas' swan song.

"Abu Mazen is at the end of his road, toward the end of his rule and the end of his life," he told Army Radio, referring to Abbas by his nickname.

"There appears to be no Palestinian partner and it is unlikely there will be." Trump infuriated Palestinians and Muslims around the world when he announced late last year that the US would recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there, upending decades of US policy and countering an international consensus that the fate of Jerusalem should be decided in negotiations between the sides.

Abbas has said that by siding with the Israelis on a sensitive issue, the announcement had destroyed Trump's credibility as a Mideast peace broker.</s>JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had "lost his senses" following his fiery speech against President Donald Trump.

Lieberman told Israel's Army Radio that Abbas' address symbolized his giving up on the prospect of peace negotiations and opting instead for a confrontation with both Israel and the United States.

Abbas sharply escalated his rhetoric in a speech on Sunday, lashing out at Trump over recent policy moves, such as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Abbas also slammed Trump's recent Twitter comment threatening to cut American aid and alleging the Palestinians are no longer willing to negotiate a peace deal with Israel.

"Since when did we reject negotiations?" Abbas told members of the Palestinian Central Council, a key decision-making body. "Shame," Abbas said, addressing Trump.

To laughter from the crowd, Abbas then added the phrase "Yehreb Beitak," literally translated as "may your house be demolished."

In colloquial Palestinian Arabic, the phrase can have different connotations, from a harsh to a casual insult, but its use in a widely watched speech seemed jarring.

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settler Jewish Home Party, said the content and style of the speech represented Abbas' swan song.

"Abu Mazen is at the end of his road, toward the end of his rule and the end of his life," he told Army Radio, referring to Abbas by his nickname. "There appears to be no Palestinian partner and it is unlikely there will be."

Trump infuriated Palestinians and Muslims around the world when he announced late last year that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there, upending decades of U.S. policy and countering an international consensus that the fate of Jerusalem should be decided in negotiations between the sides.

Abbas has said that by siding with the Israelis on a sensitive issue, the announcement had destroyed Trump's credibility as a Mideast peace broker.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>JERUSALEM — Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had “lost his senses” following his fiery speech against President Donald Trump.

Lieberman told Israel’s Army Radio that Abbas’ address symbolized his giving up on the prospect of peace negotiations and opting instead for a confrontation with both Israel and the United States.

Abbas sharply escalated his rhetoric in a speech on Sunday, lashing out at Trump over recent policy moves, such as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Abbas also slammed Trump’s recent Twitter comment threatening to cut American aid and alleging the Palestinians are no longer willing to negotiate a peace deal with Israel.

“Since when did we reject negotiations?” Abbas told members of the Palestinian Central Council, a key decision-making body. “Shame,” Abbas said, addressing Trump.

To laughter from the crowd, Abbas then added the phrase “Yehreb Beitak,” literally translated as “may your house be demolished.”

In colloquial Palestinian Arabic, the phrase can have different connotations, from a harsh to a casual insult, but its use in a widely watched speech seemed jarring.

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settler Jewish Home Party, said the content and style of the speech represented Abbas’ swan song.

“Abu Mazen is at the end of his road, toward the end of his rule and the end of his life,” he told Army Radio, referring to Abbas by his nickname. “There appears to be no Palestinian partner and it is unlikely there will be.”

Trump infuriated Palestinians and Muslims around the world when he announced late last year that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there, upending decades of U.S. policy and countering an international consensus that the fate of Jerusalem should be decided in negotiations between the sides.

Abbas has said that by siding with the Israelis on a sensitive issue, the announcement had destroyed Trump’s credibility as a Mideast peace broker.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>(JTA) – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas denied a Jewish connection to Israel in a speech to the Palestinian leadership.

“Israel is a colonial project that has nothing to do with Jews,” Abbas said during a more than two-hour speech in Ramallah, to a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Council. The two-day meeting was held to formulate a response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Abbas alleged that once there was a state of Israel, its leaders could not convince Jews to immigrate to it. He also said that six million Jews preferred to be killed by the Nazis in Europe rather than leave for Israel.

During World War II British mandatory authorities prevented most Jewish immigration to Palestine.

He also alleged that Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, only grudgingly worked to force Jews in Arab countries to come to Israel after he determined that he could not fill the country with European Jews.

Abbas slammed Trump and vowed to not participate in any negotiations under the auspices of the United States.

“We are here to stay. We will not leave our villages. This is our land. We will take instructions from no one. We stick by our people, our land. We say to Trump, we will not accept his deal. The deal of the century has become the slap in the face of the century,” Abbas said.

“Today is the day that the Oslo Accords end. Israel killed them,” Abbas said. “We are an authority without any authority, and an occupation without any cost. Trump threatens to cut funding to the authority because negotiations have failed. When the hell did negotiations start?”

He added that “any future negotiations will take place only within the context of the international community, by an international committee created in the framework of an international conference. Allow me to be clear: We will not accept America leadership of a political process involving negotiations.

Abbas called U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman a “settler.” He vowed to never meet with Friedman.

He also attacked Israel, for example alleging that “Israel has imported frightening amounts of drugs in order to destroy our younger generation.”

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin condemned Abbas remarks in a meeting Monday in Jerusalem with a delegation of AIPAC Board of Directors.

“What we heard yesterday from Mahmoud Abbas, was terrible. He returned back to the ideas he expressed decades ago, when they were no less terrible. To say Israel is the result of a Western conspiracy to settle Jews in land belonging to Arab populations? To say that that the Jewish people has no connection with the land of Israel? He forgot many things, and said exactly the things that led him to be accused years ago of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial,” Rivlin said.

The president added: “These are precisely the things that block us. In his words he is rejecting our return to our homeland, even though Abu Mazen (Abbas) knows very well that the Koran itself recognizes the land of Israel as our land. Without this basic recognition we will not be able to build trust and move forward.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also responded to Abbas’s remarks in a statement issued from India, where he is on an official visit: “I head what Abu Mazen said. He has revealed the truth. He has torn off the mask and shown to the public the simple truth that I have been working to instill for many long years: The root of the conflict between us and the Palestinians is their steadfast refusal to recognize the Jewish state in any borders whatsoever.”</s>Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday blamed Israel for ruining the ongoing Oslo Accords and said President Donald Trump's handling of the peace talks was a "slap in the face" to Palestinians.

"Today is the day that the Oslo Accords end. Israel killed them," Abbas said in Ramallah, according to Haaretz. "We are an authority without any authority, and an occupation without any cost. Trump threatens to cut funding to the authority because negotiations have failed. When the hell did negotiations start?!"

Abbas went on to say that any future negotiations would require an international committee in the framework of an international conference to minimize U.S. influence.

"We will not accept for the U.S. to be a mediator, because after what they have done to us -- a believer shall not be stung twice in the same place," Abbas said, according to The New York Times.

Abbas also criticized U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who he described as "an offensive human being, and I will not agree to meet with him anywhere," and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who he said "threatens to hit people who hurt Israel with the heel of her shoe."

As the United States, Isrrael and Palestine continue talks, details on formal deals have not been released.

However, The New York Times reported earlier that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have attempted to offer Abbas a deal that would likely not be popular among Palestinians because they would not be given East Jerusalem for their capital Palestinian refugees and their descendants wold not be given the right to return.

Abbas referenced the deal and said that the Palestinian leadership had been offered Abu Dis, an East Jerusalem neighborhood they already control, as a potential capital.

"If we lose Jerusalem, what do you want to do? Have a state with Abu Dis as its capital? This is what they're offering now: Abu Dis," Abbas said.</s>JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli leaders slammed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Monday for a fiery, invective-filled speech against President Donald Trump, in which he proclaimed the U.S. role as arbiter of the Mideast conflict over, attacked the administration’s envoys and described Israel as a colonial conspiracy.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Abbas had “lost his senses” and had given up on the prospect of peace negotiations in favor of open confrontation with both Israel and the United States. Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settler Jewish Home Party, said the speech represented Abbas’ swan song.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a trip to India, said Abbas had “tore off the mask” and exposed what he called the truth. “The root of the conflict between us and the Palestinians is their continuous refusal to recognize the Jewish state in any borders,” he said in a statement on Facebook.

In a rambling, two and half hour long speech Sunday night, the Palestinian leader sharply escalated his rhetoric, lashing out at the U.S., Israel, Britain and even other Arab leaders, whom he told to “go to hell” for criticizing him. He pronounced the peace process dead, and accused Israel of killing it.

The speech came at a time of great frustration for the 82-year-old Abbas, who after 13 years in power has made little progress in his goal of establishing an independent Palestinian state on lands captured by Israel in 1967. The rival Hamas militant group now controls the Gaza Strip, his erstwhile Arab allies have quietly moved closer to Israel or turned their attention to other pressing matters such as Iran, and he has lost faith in the United States as a Mideast broker following Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last month. Abbas also is deeply unpopular with his own public.

In the address, Abbas attacked Trump over the Jerusalem decision and rebuked Trump’s recent Twitter comment threatening to cut American aid and alleging the Palestinians were no longer willing to negotiate a peace deal.

“Since when did we reject negotiations?” Abbas told members of the Palestinian Central Council, a key decision-making body. “Shame,” Abbas said, addressing Trump.

To laughter from the crowd, Abbas then added the phrase “Yekhreb Beitak,” literally translated as “may your house be demolished.”

In colloquial Palestinian Arabic, the phrase can have different connotations, from a harsh to a casual insult, but its use in a widely watched speech seemed jarring — and could exacerbate his already fragile relationship with an American president who is particularly averse to criticism.

Despite the tough rhetoric, Abbas did not announce any major policy decisions. He said he remains committed to seeking a peace deal with Israel and promoting a culture of peace in Palestinian society. He denounced terrorism and noted that he has signed an anti-terrorism agreement with over 80 countries, including the U.S., while saying he maintains a team dedicated to outreach with the Israeli public. He said he supports only nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation.

Even so, much of his language was especially harsh. Abbas has said that by siding with the Israelis on the sensitive issue of Jerusalem, Trump had destroyed his credibility and made it impossible for the Palestinians to accept his vision for a peace plan.

Abbas called Trump’s moves a “slap in the face” and threatened that the Palestinians “will slap back,” without elaborating. He took particular aim at the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, a strong supporter of Israel’s West Bank settlements, for reportedly objecting to the use of the word occupation, and Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, for once quipping that she wore high heels to fend off Israel’s opponents.

“He (Friedman) is an offensive human being, and I will not agree to meet with him anywhere. They requested that I meet him and I refused,” he said. “Nikki Haley too. She threatens to hit people who hurt Israel with the heel of her shoe, and the response to her speech will be harsher.”

He also reiterated his demand that Britain apologize for its 1917 Balfour Declaration, which endorsed the idea of a Jewish state. He accused Israel of sending drugs to Palestinian children. Most angering to Israelis, however, was his assertion that the country was a result of Western efforts to offload their Jews.

“They wanted to bring Jews here from Europe to maintain European interests in the region. They asked Holland, which had the largest navy in the world, to transfer the Jews,” he said. “Israel is a colonialist project that has nothing to do with Jews.”

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, who holds a mostly ceremonial position, said the comments brought to mind Abbas’ own doctoral dissertation, in which he challenged the number of Jewish victims of the Holocaust and claimed Zionists had collaborated with Nazis.

“He returned back to the ideas he expressed decades ago, when they were no less terrible,” Rivlin said Monday. “To say Israel is the result of a Western conspiracy to settle Jews in land belonging to Arab populations? To say that the Jewish people has no connection with the land of Israel? He forgot many things, and said exactly the things that led him to be accused years ago of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.”

Given the lack of actual policy decisions, the speech appeared to reflect frustration over prolonged deadlock and a sense of abandonment.

“It is a necessary bravado for his own people having come short in the diplomatic process,” said Uri Savir, an Israeli who negotiated with Abbas in the early 1990s. “Rhetoric aside, I know him as a moderate, but there is a dangerous air of desperation in Ramallah that Israel better take seriously and try to find ways to engage in diplomatic talk on a two-state solution.”</s>JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had “lost his senses” following his fiery speech against President Donald Trump.

Lieberman told Israel’s Army Radio that Abbas‘ address symbolized his giving up on the prospect of peace negotiations and opting instead for a confrontation with both Israel and the United States.

Abbas sharply escalated his rhetoric in a speech on Sunday, lashing out at Trump over recent policy moves, such as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Abbas also slammed Trump’s recent Twitter comment threatening to cut American aid and alleging the Palestinians are no longer willing to negotiate a peace deal with Israel.

“Since when did we reject negotiations?” Abbas told members of the Palestinian Central Council, a key decision-making body. “Shame,” Abbas said, addressing Trump.

To laughter from the crowd, Abbas then added the phrase “Yekhreb Beitak,” literally translated as “may your house be demolished.”

In colloquial Palestinian Arabic, the phrase can have different connotations, from a harsh to a casual insult, but its use in a widely watched speech seemed jarring.

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settler Jewish Home Party, said the content and style of the speech represented Abbas‘ swan song.

“Abu Mazen is at the end of his road, toward the end of his rule and the end of his life,” he told Army Radio, referring to Abbas by his nickname. “There appears to be no Palestinian partner and it is unlikely there will be.”

Trump infuriated Palestinians and Muslims around the world when he announced late last year that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there, upending decades of U.S. policy and countering an international consensus that the fate of Jerusalem should be decided in negotiations between the sides.

Abbas has said that by siding with the Israelis on a sensitive issue, the announcement had destroyed Trump’s credibility as a Mideast peace broker.</s>JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had "lost his senses" following his fiery speech against President Donald Trump.

Lieberman told Israel's Army Radio that Abbas' address symbolized his giving up on the prospect of peace negotiations and opting instead for a confrontation with both Israel and the United States.

Abbas sharply escalated his rhetoric in a speech on Sunday, lashing out at Trump over recent policy moves, such as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Abbas also slammed Trump's recent Twitter comment threatening to cut American aid and alleging the Palestinians are no longer willing to negotiate a peace deal with Israel.

"Since when did we reject negotiations?" Abbas told members of the Palestinian Central Council, a key decision-making body. "Shame," Abbas said, addressing Trump.

To laughter from the crowd, Abbas then added the phrase "Yekhreb Beitak," literally translated as "may your house be demolished."

In colloquial Palestinian Arabic, the phrase can have different connotations, from a harsh to a casual insult, but its use in a widely watched speech seemed jarring.

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settler Jewish Home Party, said the content and style of the speech represented Abbas' swan song.

"Abu Mazen is at the end of his road, toward the end of his rule and the end of his life," he told Army Radio, referring to Abbas by his nickname. "There appears to be no Palestinian partner and it is unlikely there will be."

Trump infuriated Palestinians and Muslims around the world when he announced late last year that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy there, upending decades of U.S. policy and countering an international consensus that the fate of Jerusalem should be decided in negotiations between the sides.

Abbas has said that by siding with the Israelis on a sensitive issue, the announcement had destroyed Trump's credibility as a Mideast peace broker.</s>JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denied a Jewish connection to Israel in a speech to the Palestinian leadership.

“Israel is a colonial project that has nothing to do with Jews,” Abbas said during a more than two-hour speech in Ramallah, to a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Council. The two-day meeting was held to formulate a response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Abbas alleged that once there was a state of Israel, its leaders could not convince Jews to immigrate to it. He also said that six million Jews preferred to be killed by the Nazis in Europe rather than leave for Israel.

During World War II British mandatory authorities prevented most Jewish immigration to Palestine.

He also alleged that Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, only grudgingly worked to force Jews in Arab countries to come to Israel after he determined that he could not fill the country with European Jews.

Abbas slammed Trump and vowed to not participate in any negotiations under the auspices of the United States.

“We are here to stay. We will not leave our villages. This is our land. We will take instructions from no one. We stick by our people, our land. We say to Trump, we will not accept his deal. The deal of the century has become the slap in the face of the century,” Abbas said.

“Today is the day that the Oslo Accords end. Israel killed them,” Abbas said. “We are an authority without any authority, and an occupation without any cost. Trump threatens to cut funding to the authority because negotiations have failed. When the hell did negotiations start?!”

He added that “any future negotiations will take place only within the context of the international community, by an international committee created in the framework of an international conference. Allow me to be clear: We will not accept America leadership of a political process involving negotiations.

Abbas called U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman a “settler.” He vowed to never meet with Friedman.

He also attacked Israel, for example alleging that “Israel has imported frightening amounts of drugs in order to destroy our younger generation.”

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin condemned Abbas remarks in a meeting Monday in Jerusalem with a delegation of AIPAC Board of Directors.

“What we heard yesterday from Mahmoud Abbas, was terrible. He returned back to the ideas he expressed decades ago, when they were no less terrible. To say Israel is the result of a Western conspiracy to settle Jews in land belonging to Arab populations? To say that that the Jewish people has no connection with the land of Israel? He forgot many things, and said exactly the things that led him to be accused years ago of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial,” Rivlin said.

The president added: “These are precisely the things that block us. In his words he is rejecting our return to our homeland, even though Abu Mazen (Abbas) knows very well that the Koran itself recognizes the land of Israel as our land. Without this basic recognition we will not be able to build trust and move forward.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also responded to Abbas’s remarks in a statement issued from India, where he is on an official visit: “I head what Abu Mazen said. He has revealed the truth. He has torn off the mask and shown to the public the simple truth that I have been working to instill for many long years: The root of the conflict between us and the Palestinians is their steadfast refusal to recognize the Jewish state in any borders whatsoever.”</s>Israeli leaders slammed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday for a fiery, invective-filled speech against President Donald Trump, in which he also attacked the administration’s envoys.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Abbas had “lost his senses” and had given up on the prospect of peace negotiations in favour of open confrontation with both Israel and the United States.

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settler Jewish Home Party, said the speech represented Abbas’ swansong.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a trip to India, said Abbas had “tore off the mask” and exposed what he called the truth.

“The root of the conflict between us and the Palestinians is their continuous refusal to recognise the Jewish state in any borders,” he said in a statement on Facebook.

In a rambling, two and a half-hour long speech on Sunday night, the Palestinian leader sharply escalated his rhetoric, lashing out at the US, Israel, Britain and even other Arab leaders, whom he told to “go to hell” for criticising him. He pronounced the peace process dead, and accused Israel of killing it.

The speech came at a time of great frustration for the 82-year-old Abbas, who after 13 years in power has made little progress in his goal of establishing an independent Palestinian state on lands captured by Israel in 1967.

The rival Hamas militant group now controls the Gaza Strip and his erstwhile Arab allies have quietly moved closer to Israel or turned their attention to other pressing matters such as Iran.

He has also lost faith in the United States as a Middle East broker following Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last month. Abbas is also deeply unpopular with his own public.

Palestinian leader Abbas to skip meeting with US Vice-President Pence over Trump’s Jerusalem decision

In the address, Abbas attacked Trump over the Jerusalem decision and rebuked Trump’s recent Twitter comment threatening to cut American aid and alleging the Palestinians were no longer willing to negotiate a peace deal.

“Since when did we reject negotiations?” Abbas told members of the Palestinian Central Council, a key decision-making body. “Shame,” Abbas said, addressing Trump.

To laughter from the crowd, Abbas then added the phrase “Yekhreb Beitak,” literally translated as “may your house be demolished.”

In colloquial Palestinian Arabic, the phrase can have different connotations, from a harsh to a casual insult, but its use in a widely watched speech seemed jarring – and could exacerbate his already fragile relationship with an American president who is particularly averse to criticism.

Despite the tough rhetoric, Abbas did not announce any major policy decisions. He said he remains committed to seeking a peace deal with Israel and promoting a culture of peace in Palestinian society.

He denounced terrorism and noted that he has signed an anti-terrorism agreement with over 80 countries, including the US, while saying he maintains a team dedicated to outreach with the Israeli public.

He said he supports only non-violent resistance to Israeli occupation.

Even so, much of his language was especially harsh. Abbas has said that by siding with the Israelis on the sensitive issue of Jerusalem, Trump had destroyed his credibility and made it impossible for the Palestinians to accept his vision for a peace plan.

Palestinian president denounces Trump’s peace plan as ‘the slap of the century’

Abbas called Trump’s moves a “slap in the face” and threatened that the Palestinians “will slap back,” without elaborating.

He took particular aim at the US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, a strong supporter of Israel’s West Bank settlements, for reportedly objecting to the use of the word occupation.

And he lashed out at Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, for once quipping that she wore high heels to fend off Israel’s opponents.

“He [Friedman] is an offensive human being, and I will not agree to meet with him anywhere. They requested that I meet him and I refused,” he said.

“Nikki Haley too. She threatens to hit people who hurt Israel with the heel of her shoe, and the response to her speech will be harsher.”

Flare-up with Israel tests Hamas effort to keep Gaza on low boil

Given the lack of actual policy decisions, the speech appeared to reflect frustration over prolonged deadlock and a sense of abandonment.

“It is a necessary bravado for his own people having come short in the diplomatic process,” said Uri Savir, an Israeli who negotiated with Abbas in the early 1990s.

“Rhetoric aside, I know him as a moderate, but there is a dangerous air of desperation in Ramallah that Israel better take seriously and try to find ways to engage in diplomatic talk on a two-state solution.”
Nabil Shaath, the foreign affairs adviser of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, says that the Palestinian Central Council freezes its recognition of the state of Israel until Israel recognizes Palestine as a state. Palestine will freeze the Oslo accords.