In an interview with the Arabic service of the BBC in Arabic, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of conducting secret talks with Hamas, allegedly on the issue of a Palestinian state with temporary borders. Abbas also repeated that Jerusalem wasn’t truly interested in peace and added that “Washington isn’t pushing Israel enough to advance the peace process”.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum’s responsded, “The things that Abu Mazen [Abbas] is talking about never happened. We don’t negotiate with the enemy.” Barhoum accused Abbas of “putting his personal political failure on Hamas.”
Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, is using every means available to press Washington on the Israel-Palestine issue. It emerged yesterday that last week Abbas told President Obama by phone last week that he wants to leave his post since he sees no chance for peace with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On the same day, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat blamed Israel for the current impasse:
The gap is still wide and Israel does not give a single sign of meeting its obligations under the road map, halting settlement activities and resuming negotiations where they left off. I do not see any possibility for restarting peace talks in the near future.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has joined the debate, saying that the Abbas administration must be bolstered against Israel’s unwillingness and Hamas’s resistance. She suggested that Israel carry out a series of goodwill actions and show greater flexibility to facilitate the resumption of talks and thatArab foreign ministers, meeting in Morocco on 2 November, step up their political and economic support for Abbas vis-a-vis Hamas.
It is unclear, however, what Washington will or can do beyond Clinton’s general call. Israel has already stated that it will stop settlement constructions temporarily without the “natural growth.” “One more step” means the demand on Israel for the full concession of a complete halt. As for the request to Arab foreign ministers to increase their support to the Palestine Authority: will that be enough to destroy Hamas or will it only contribute to a tougher line by the Gazan leadership?
Abbas will probably not resign; after all, he just gambled on his political future by announcing January elections. Look instead for him and Netanyahu to nod their hands as negotiations continue to drift about very distant peace talks.
In an interview with the Arabic service of the BBC in Arabic, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of conducting secret talks with Hamas, allegedly on the issue of a Palestinian state with temporary borders. Abbas also repeated that Jerusalem wasn’t truly interested in peace and added that “Washington isn’t pushing Israel enough to advance the peace process”.
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Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, is using every means available to press Washington on the Israel-Palestine issue. It emerged yesterday that last week 
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