PLO: We will not resume negotiations until a deadline for end of Israeli 'occupation' is set
"Political horizon is completely closed with this new settler government," PLO leader says.
By JPOST.COM STAFFPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) gestures as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas looks on(photo credit: REUTERS)
Wasal Abu Yousef, a member of the PLO leadership, said Thursday that Palestinians would not return to the negotiation table with Israel unless a deadline for the end of the Israeli "occupation" is set, London-based newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported.He also said that, should negotiations resume, Palestinians would not rely solely on American mediation due to their "bias" towards Israel."Bilateral negotiations under US auspices are no longer possible," he said.Yousef told the London daily that the decision to refrain from returning to negotiations stemmed from the results of Israel's latest elections and government formation, which brought to power an even more right-wing government than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's last coalition."We believe that the political horizon is completely closed with this new settler government," Yousef told Al-Sharq Al-Aswat.
