Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has reiterated a warning to the Palestinian Authority (PA) over seeking international recognition for a Palestinian state.
Ayalon claimed that such a decision could lead to “disappointment and maybe violence” in the occupied territories and Tel Aviv might “dissolve agreements with the Palestinians,” a Press TV correspondent reported on Wednesday.
Palestinians will attempt to obtain recognition of a sovereign state when the UN General Assembly meets in September. Washington and Tel Aviv remain opposed to the initiative.
UN membership requires a recommendation from the Security Council and approval by two-thirds of the General Assembly, or 128 countries.
Over 100 countries have endorsed the Palestinian 1988 declaration of independence, but the United States has threatened to veto a vote for the UN recognition of Palestinian statehood.
“The reason the Palestinian Authority is adamant in going to the United Nations to seek membership is that Israel is not serious with regard to negotiations,” said a political analyst.
The PA insists that they will not return to talks with Israel unless the regime in Tel Aviv stops the illegal settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.
On Monday, Israel made a bid to construction companies to build 336 apartments in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he is ready to hold talks with Palestinians immediately anywhere, in al-Quds (Jerusalem) or Ramallah.
“I’m prepared to negotiate with President (Mahmud) Abbas directly for peace between our two peoples right now. We can do it here in my home in Jerusalem, we can do it in Ramallah (in the West Bank), we can do it anywhere,” Netanyahu said.
In September 2010, the Israeli regime resumed the expansion of settlements in occupied Palestinian territories after a 10-month partial freeze, prompting Palestinian Authority leaders to break off the US-sponsored talks with Tel-Aviv that had resumed after a lengthy stalemate.
(Press TV)
