Erekat: PA will only accept complete freeze during talks

PA negotiator says Abbas may seek international recognition of territories if Israel doesn't agree to Palestinian state within '67 boundaries.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, HERB KEINON
Erekat 311 (photo credit: AP)
Erekat 311
(photo credit: AP)
The Palestinian Authority will not accept a partial freeze of building in the settlements for a month or two, senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told the Al-Arabiya news channel as reported Radio Israel on Sunday.
He stated that the PA would only accept a complete building freeze in the West Bank for the duration of the negotiations.
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Erekat added that the Palestinian side was deciding whether or not to seek international recognition of the Palestinian territories if a Palestinian state within 1967 boundaries was not recognized by Israel as a result of the talks.
Israeli government officials Saturday night dismissed as “unrealistic” and a “mirage” Palestinian threats to get the US or the UN Security Council to recognize an independent Palestinian state within the pre-1967 lines if the peace talks collapse.
The Palestinian Authority announced over the weekend – following the Arab League meeting in Libya that gave the US a 30-day grace period to get Israel to agree to another settlement construction moratorium – that it was considering “alternatives” in case the peace talks collapsed, including seeking US or UN recognition of an independent Palestinian state.
In Libya on Saturday, PA President Mahmoud Abbas asked Arab leaders to consider alternatives to the negotiations, said Erekat.
Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report.