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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| PA, Hamas reject PMŽs overtures in DC |
| 2009-05-07 |
| [Jerusalem Post Middle East] The Palestinian Authority and Hamas on Tuesday rejected statements made by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, in which he failed to refer to a two-state solution. The Palestinians also rejected Netanyahu's demand in his Monday night speech that they accept Israel's right to be a Jewish state. "We want peace with the Arab world. We also want peace with the Palestinians," Netanyahu declared. "We are prepared to resume peace negotiations without any delay, without any preconditions," he said. "The sooner the better." The prime minister, who addressed the thousands of congressmen, diplomats and pro-Israel activists by satellite from Israel, was speaking ahead of his own visit to Washington. Since entering office, Netanyahu's largely rightwing government has struck a different tone from America on the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic process, leading some to conclude that the US and Israel are on a collision course on the issue. Notably, Netanyahu has declined to publicly support a Palestinian state, which is a major goal of the Obama administration. |
| Posted by:Fred |