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PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (file)
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| By Israel Insider staff October 2, 2007 |
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The Palestinian Authority is toughening its stance ahead of the November peace summit, refusing to budge on the "right of return" and demanding that Israel cede all the territory it captured in 1967, including east Jerusalem, according to PA officials.
According to another PA official, the Palestinians want the Israelis to commit to withdraw to pre-1967 borders in declaration of principles before the summit, the Jerusalem Post reported.
"As President Mahmoud Abbas stated last week, we have no intention to compromise on any of our rights," the official said.
The PA is also demanding an agreement on water, security and settlements as well.
Officials denied agreeing to a land swap with Israel, which would entail Israel retaining several large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria in exchange for land inside Israel proper.
Recent media reports that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed splitting Jerusalem and ceding nearly 97 percent of the West Bank to the PA caused uproar among centrist and right wing MKs. It is unlikely that similar terms will be agreed upon on the Israeli side, especially amid reports that Hamas is equally as strong as Fatah in the West Bank.
Abbas is pushing for an agreement based on concrete terms, upon which many Arab states, like Saudi Arabia, have said their attendance at the summit is contingent.
"We're negotiating with Israel, and after that there will be an agreement, which we will carry to the international conference to be blessed, adopted and endorsed, and then detailed negotiations shall begin," Abbas told reporters following closed-door talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman.
He said at least 12 Arab countries had agreed to send representatives to the conference.
"There will be a very strong Arab presence at the conference," Abbas said after holding talks with Jordan's King Abdullah. "In addition, there will be some Islamic countries like Malaysia, Turkey and Indonesia." |
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