Abbas: If peace talks fail, Israel will be to blame

PA President speaks during flight to Amman, Netanyahu tells Sarkozy, Clinton that peace within a year is possible.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Israel will be to blame if peace talks fail, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday.
Abbas was speaking during a flight from Paris to Amman, AFP reported, and said that the settlement construction issue would determine the outcome of the talks.
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He added that he would soon be making a speech at an Arab League meeting, in which he would announce some significant decisions.
Earlier on Tuesday, Abbas told radio station Europe 1 that he will stop talks if the settlement freeze is not reinstated.
"We don't want to stop the talks, but if the building continues, we will have to put a stop to them," Abbas said. "(Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu must know that peace is more important than settlements."
"We ask for a moratorium during negotiations, because as long as there are negotiations, there is hope," he reportedly told the radio station in Arabic.
Also on Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, telling them that he believed it was possible to reach a historic peace agreement within a year.