Global Arab Network | West Bank dismisses Netanyahu’s conditions, US welcomes

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West Bank dismisses Netanyahu’s conditions, US welcomes

The Palestinian Authority, based in Ramallah in the West Bank, reacted angrily to Netanyahu's demands. Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, dismissed the speech, saying: "Netanyahu's remarks have sabotaged all initiatives, paralysed all efforts being made and challenges the Palestinian, Arab and American positions."

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said that he would support a Palestinian state as long it is demilitarized and guarantees Israel's security.
"In any peace agreement, the territory under Palestinian control must be disarmed, with solid security guarantees for Israel." Netanyahu said.

This is the first occasion that Netanyahu has endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state, but many see a disarmed Palestinian state as handing too much power to Israel.

Saeb Erekat, the Palestinians' senior negotiator, called on Obama to intervene to force Israel to abide by previous interim agreements that include freezing settlement activity in the West Bank.

"The peace process has been moving at the speed of a tortoise. Tonight, Netanyahu has flipped it over on its back," he said.
The White House is welcoming Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's call for the creation of a Palestinian state.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Sunday that President Barack Obama welcomes the speech and is committed to two states: a Jewish state of Israel and an independent Palestinian state.
Gibbs says Obama will work with all parties to see that they fulfill their obligations and head toward regional peace.

But Hady Amr, the director of the Brookings Doha centre, told Aljazeera that Netanyahu's speech fell well short of Obama's address.
"Ten days ago, when President Obama spoke, there was so much hope, there was so much vision. He spoke about Americas failings over the years ... There was none of that in this speech," Amr said.

"I think this is a sad day for the Jewish people, the Palestinian people, the Arab people, the Israeli people, because this speech does not bring us closer to peace.

"What it does is it lays down conditions. I guess it sets the tone that this is not the Israeli government that's going to make peace ... I think it's a sad day for the peoples of the region."

Israel and the Palestinians re-launched peace negotiations at the Annapolis conference in the US in November 2007.
But the talks made little progress and were suspended during Israel's war on Gaza in December and January.
The Palestinians have said that they will not restart negotiations unless Netanyahu publicly backs the two-state solution and stops the building of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land.

In his speech, Netanyahu said there would be an end to new settlement building, but vowed that Jerusalem would remain undivided.
Addressing Palestinian, Netanyahu urged them to recognise Israel as a Jewish state.
"Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people and so it shall remain," he said.

Palestinians fear such recognition would destroy chances for a return of Palestinian refugees to areas now inside Israel from which they fled or were forced to flee during the 1948 war that led to its creation.

Netanyahu said in the speech, repeating long-standing Israeli policy, that Palestinian refugees should be resettled outside Israel. Israeli leaders have said in the past the refugees could find a new home in a future Palestine. (AP, Reuters, AFP)

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Published comments are the opinions of private individuals and do not reflect the views of Global Arab Network