The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Tuesday said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent approach to peace was insufficient, urging Israel to accept the two-state solution.
The right-wing Israeli prime minister said on Monday his government was ready to resume the peace talks with the Palestinians without preconditions.
"This is not enough," said Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian peace negotiator, "We need an Israeli recognition of the two-state solution and stopping of settlement activities," he added.
In his video-link speech before a pro-Israel lobby in Washington, Netanyahu briefly talked about a three-way plan to achieve peace based on political, security and economic improvements, without mentioning the two-state solution which the current U.S. administration supports.
Erekat wondered if Netanyahu's remarks meant that he was ready to negotiate issues like Jerusalem, borders, refugees and the settlements.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Hamas movement said Netanyahu's statements were "a misleading to the public opinion and an attempt to cover Israel's war crimes."
Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas spokesman, said in a press statement that "Netanyahu's remarks were a new deception of the public opinion and an attempt to escape from justice out of Israel's war crimes."
"Netanyahu wants to use the peace talks as a cover for his project that aims to establish the Israeli state on the rubbles of the Palestinian one," Barhoum added.
(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2009)
