Abbas Ready To Negotiate With Winner Of Israel Polls

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that the Palestinians were willing to negotiate with any Israeli leader whose party won upcoming Knesset (parliament) elections.



"Israel wants to freeze the entire world because of its elections," Abbas said in a speech at the opening session of a meeting in Ramallah of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Central Council.



"We do not interfere in the affairs of other countries. We have no right to say who is fit to lead the Israelis and who isn't," he said.



"We will consider the next Israeli leader our partner in the peace negotiations," he added.



Israelis are due to elect a new parliament on March 17 in fresh polls prompted by divisions within Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government.



Peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators collapsed in mid-2014 over Israel's refusal to release a group of Palestinian prisoners despite earlier pledges to do so.



In his speech on Wednesday, Abbas also praised Israeli-Arab parties in Israel for their plan to contest Knesset elections on a joint list.



The Palestinian leader also reiterated his rejection of a Palestinian state with "temporary" borders.



"Any plan that seeks to establish a Palestinian state with temporary borders is totally rejected by the Palestinians" he said. "We also refuse to recognize Israel as a 'Jewish state'."



He added: "We support the two-state solution that entails the establishment of a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital."



Abbas then turned to the issue of reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, which was devastated by an Israeli offensive last summer.



He conditioned the strip's reconstruction on the Palestinian unity government's assumption of control over the enclave's borders.



"The world pledged $5 billion to Gaza on condition that a national unity government take responsibility for the border crossings and receive and deliver reconstruction materials," Abbas said.



"Hamas refuses to do so, even though it approved the idea during the Cairo [reconciliation] talks," he added. "Since then, they have accused us of obstructing reconstruction efforts."



Israel and Palestinian resistance factions signed a cease-fire deal last August following a 51-day military onslaught on the Gaza Strip by Israel that left more than 2,160 Palestinians dead – mostly civilians – and some 11,000 injured.



Abbas also asserted that visits to the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex by Muslims and Arabs should not be considered "normalization" with Israel.



"Israel employs subversive, racist practices in Jerusalem," he said. "Visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque is not normalizing [relations with Israel]."



He criticized Muslim clerics who issued religious edicts banning travel to Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.



During its two-day meeting, the Central Council – the PLO's top legislative body – is due to discuss several issues related to the bid for Palestinian statehood.



Qais Abdul Karim, a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, told Anadolu Agency earlier that the meeting would discuss proposals for halting security coordination with Israel; a fresh statehood bid by the Palestinian Authority; and a reexamination of economic agreements signed with Israel.



The meetings will include representatives from all factions of the PLO, along with independent figures.



Islamic Jihad and Hamas will not attend.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ramallah