There Goes Abbas

Mideast: Abbas refuses to recognise Israel as Jewish state

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Monday dismissed calls by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognise Israel as a Jewish state..."A Jewish state, what is that supposed to mean?," said Abbas, quoted by Israeli media. "You can call yourselves as you like, but I don't accept it and I say so publicly."

He also said it was not his job to define or name the Israeli state.

"Name yourself, it's not my business. Name yourself the Hebrew Socialist Republic. All I know is that there is the state of Israel, in the borders of 1967, not one centimetre more, not one centimetre less. Anything else, I do not accept."

Many observers believe the so called 'green line' – the pre-1967 Six-Day War ceasefire line between Israel and Jordan – should be the basis for an international border between Israel and the West Bank in the creation of a future Palestinian state...

One Likud Mk was quick off the mark:

Likud MK: Abbas' remarks prove Palestinians don’t want peace

Knesset Member Ofir Akunis (Likud) said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' recent remarks were "additional proof that the Palestinians are not headed towards genuine peace with Israel...This means that the Palestinians don't want two states for two people, but two states for one people. A Palestinian recognition of a Jewish state is a basic condition for making progress in the peace process."

as was an Arab MK:

MK Tibi calls Abbas statement 'correct and reasonable'

MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List – Ta'al)...called Abbas' words "reasonable and correct." According to Tibi, "recognition between states does not include recognizing the essence of the state but rather their right to exist, their independence and their borders."

and the Foreign Ministry released this response:

The recognition of Israel as the sovereign state of the Jewish people is an essential and necessary step in the historic process of reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians.

The more the Palestinians assimilate this fundamental and substantive fact, the sooner the peace between the two nations will progress toward fruition.

The morale?

Israel is still perceived as an unacceptable presence in the "Arab/Muslim Middle East". A non-identifiable Israel - not Jewish - is perhaps possible, the old slogan of "secular democratic Palestine" comes to my mind from the early 1970s.

We can't be us, the 3000 year-old Jewish people, with our religion, our culture, our consciousness, our beliefs, our philosophy and our history. No, that must disappear.

Well, Mr. Abbas, the holocaust denier, you are no partner. Your moderation is false. Your willingness to compromise is false.

And those who sought you out like Olmert and Livni are false in their diplomacy as a faithful expression of Zionism.

There goes Abbas.