Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas threatens int'l complaint if Israel refuses talks.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas threatens int'l complaint if Israel refuses talks.(JPost).If Israel is not prepared to return to the negotiating table, the Palestinian Authority will file a complaint with international bodies, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared Monday. "Israel must accept international legitimacy and stop construction in the settlements," Abbas said during a ceremony where he inaugurated a new building for the Palestinian embassy in Cairo. "There are not pre-conditions, but obligations which Israel must fulfill in accordance with international legitimacy. When Israel accepts these two obligations, we will be ready to return to the negotiations." Abbas said that until now there were no signs that Israel was prepared to comply. He said that the Palestinians had agreed to hold indirect talks with Israel, once under the auspices of the Quartet and another under the sponsorship of Jordan, but no progress was achieved. The PA leadership has decided to send a letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu holding him responsible for undermining the PA, Abbas added. In this letter, Abbas said, the PA leadership wrote to Netanyahu: "You have made the PA a non-authority. You have taken away from the PA all its commitments and what it was doing and supervising. Now we have been left with nothing."
Abbas said that the letter would be sent to Netanyahu next week.He said that Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat was scheduled to meet Tuesday with one of Netanyahu's aides to discuss the stalled peace process. "After that, we will see what can be done," Abbas continued. "If he [Netanyahu] agrees, we would be ready to resume the talks." But If the Israelis are not ready to return to the negotiations, the PA will file a complaint with international bodies, he cautioned. "This is our right and we will go back to the United Nations." Abbas said that he has chosen both Israel and Hamas as partners. "Hamas are our brothers and the Israelis are our peace partners and we believe in the two-state solution," he stressed. "We want to build a state on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, next to Israel. We want two states that would live alongside each other in security and stability. But Netanyahu does not want to hear these things He must choose between peace and settlements. If Netanyahu wants and loves peace, he must stop the settlements."Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev responded by saying that the "fundamental reason" for the impasse in the diplomatic process is "the Palestinian refusal to engage in talks." While Israel has consistently been willing to meet the Palestinians and start talks without preconditions, the Palestinians, Regev said, were "placing multiple preconditions on the table that have prevented that process from moving forward."Hmmmm........It has never been about land.Read the full story here.