Netanyahu's speech at US congress outrages Abbas, Haneya

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the deposed premier of the Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday expressed deep outrage over the statements of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United States congress on Tuesday.

Abbas, who chaired a meeting of his leadership in Ramallah on Wednesday, rejected Netanyahu's statements over finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. Abbas told the meeting that "he won't put solutions with Israel before restarting any peace talks."

The Palestinian leadership decided to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to give responses to earlier speeches addressed by U. S. President Barack Obama and Netanyahu on the peace process in the Middle East and reaching the inter-Palestinian reconciliation with the Hamas movement.

Addressing his leadership figures, Abbas said he is sticking to the option of approaching the United Nations to seek a state recognition in September, a move objected by Obama who doomed it to failure, adding that "appealing to the UN is not meant to isolate Israel as President Obama claimed."

Abbas said that a Palestinian state must have borders with Jordan, Egypt and Israel as "a positive ground" for peace resumption. However, Abbas stressed the necessity of defining references for the peace talks that will include permanent status issues."

"Negotiations cannot continue forever," said Abbas, as Obama urged the Palestinians and the Israelis to revive peace talks on the basis of two-state solutions on the lands occupied in 1967 along with land swaps agreed upon by both parties, a vision rebuffed by Netanyahu.

On Netanyahu's speech to the U.S. congress on Tuesday, Abbas said the Israeli premier went far beyond the peace process as he put many solutions to most of the issues before the negotiations restarted. He said that the speech did not include any positive points to build on his stances on the refugees."

Netanyahu told the U.S. congress that Israel cannot withdraw to the pre-1967 borders since Israel cannot defend these boundaries. He also renewed his call on the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and stressed his refusal to divide Jerusalem.

Abbas has also stressed that he is sticking to achieve the Palestinian national reconciliation with Gaza-ruling Hamas movement despite the American and Israeli opposition to this agreement. "Reconciliation is a sheer interest and it must be achieved in accordance with what we have agreed upon in Cairo."

Palestinian mainstream rival groups Hamas and Fatah signed an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation pact on May 4, to end the four- year division. Under this agreement, a technocratic government will be formed and will focus its work on paving the way to prepare for general elections.

Meanwhile, Ismail Haneya, the deposed premier of the Hamas government, which rules the Gaza Strip, called on Wednesday for an immediate implementation of the inter-reconciliation pact signed in Cairo between his movement and Fatah party on May 4.

Haneya's call was also a response to Netanyahu, who called on Tuesday on PNA President Mahmoud Abbas to tear the reconciliation agreement he reached with Hamas in case Abbas wants to make peace with Israel.

Haneya also called for adopting a clear Arab, Islamic and Palestinian strategy of confronting the Israeli policies based on empowering the national unity through the faithful and accurate implementation of the reconciliation pact.

"We will be sticking to the reconciliation agreement and we will tear the occupation and all its documents. This occupation, that has no presence on the blessed lands of Palestine," Haneya said.

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