Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel was offering "nothing we can build on" for peace and that without progress he will seek UN recognition of Palestinian statehood in September. He told the Palestine Liberation Organisation on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the United States Congress on Tuesday "travelled far from peace", dictating solutions before negotiations even begin.
Abbas told the Palestine Liberation Organisation Netanyahu's speech to the United States Congress on Tuesday "travelled far from peace", dictating solutions before negotiations even begin. He said he would consult Arab states at the weekend about US President Barack Obama's latest ideas for restarting the peace process and Netanyahu's negative response to them.
"We said in the past and we still say that our choice is negotiation, negotiation and nothing but negotiation. But if nothing happens by September we will go (to the UN to ask for recognition by its 192 member states)," Abbas said. "Our aim is not to isolate (Israel) or to de-legitimise it. It is not an act of terror and not a unilateral act." Abbas's plan to seek UN recognition was criticised by both Netanyahu and Obama in speeches in Washington last week. In a major policy speech, however, Obama said a future Palestinian state should be based on the borders as they existed on the eve of the 1967 Middle East, with land swaps mutually agreed with Israel.