Report: Kerry's efforts on Israeli-Palestinian peace framework hit snag

After Kerry-Abbas talks in Paris, PA president deems unacceptable to US diplomat's proposed ideas for continuing talks with Israel.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
John Kerry and Mahmoud Abbas. (photo credit: Reuters)
John Kerry and Mahmoud Abbas.
(photo credit: Reuters)
After meetings between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and US Secretary of State John Kerry this week in Paris, a Palestinian official said that acceptance of Kerry's principles for continuing the talks was not forthcoming.
The official said that the ideas Kerry presented to Abbas could "not serve as the basis for a framework accord between the Palestinians and Israel as they do not take into account the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people," AFP reported.
"The Palestinian position explained to Mr Kerry is that the proposed ideas, particularly the insistence on recognition of the state of Israel as the Jewish nation-state, are unacceptable," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The official also labelled "vague" Kerry's proposals for the future of east Jerusalem. 
According to the official, Abbas "restated the Palestinian position and his vision of a solution based on United Nations resolutions and the positions of the Palestinian leadership and the Arab League." 
Earlier in the week, Palestinian officials expressed similar doubts regarding Palestinian acceptance of Kerry's ideas that would form the basis of future negotiations with Israel.   
According to a report on Wednesday, Abbas rebuffed the parts of Kerry's proposed framework that call for turning only parts of east Jerusalem into a capital of a Palestinian state and that call for the annexation of settlement blocs in the West Bank to Israel.
Officials also said that Abbas expressed opposition to Kerry’s proposal for a “symbolic” return of Palestinian refugees to their homes inside Israel.
Abbas, the officials said, continues to insist that any framework agreement call for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines with minor land swaps.
Herb Keinon, Khaled Abu Toameh, and Michael Wilner contributed to this report.