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Recognising Israel will never be free, insists Abbas

November 12, 2016 at 11:17 am

The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Jericho on Friday and hailed the mutual historical relations with Moscow, Anadolu has reported. Abbas briefed the Russian official about the hardships faced by the Palestinians under continuous Israeli occupation.

Stressing to Medvedev that Israel still had to implement all of the clauses of the Palestine-Israel agreements, the Palestinian president said that recognition of Israel does not come without cost. “Recognising Israel will never be free. It must be met with Israeli recognition of the Palestinian state,” he insisted.

Regarding direct talks, he said that the PA has been ready for a long time to have direct talks with Israel. “The proof is that when Russia invited us for this purpose, we immediately accepted the invitation and,” Abbas pointed out, “a year ago, I visited the Israeli prime minister at his home.”

He said that the important thing is to know what the talks should be about. “Mr Netanyahu has to understand that if he does not believe in the two-state solution, there will never be peace.”

The Palestinians, added Abbas, want the Israeli leader to say that he is with the two-state solution with the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. “Everything will then be ready for negotiations.”

The PA head assured Medvedev that the authority always looks forward to more developments in relations with Russia, through political support for the Palestinian cause in international bodies as well as visits by senior officials. He added that he is confident that Russia will have an “effective” and “supportive” role in any upcoming political process in the region.