Four top officials made the same point in separate interviews. Mr. Abbas, they say, feels at a total impasse in negotiations with the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has declined to commit to a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders including East Jerusalem. Mr. Netanyahu favors negotiations without preconditions.
I may be missing something but these Arabs want Israel to commit to a Pal. state when, to my chagrin, astonishment and disappointment, that's what Netanyahu has done.
Last June:-
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed a Palestinian state beside Israel for the first time on Sunday, reversing himself under U.S. pressure, but saying the Palestinians would have to lay down arms, a condition they swiftly rejected.
A week after President Barack Obama's address to the Muslim world, Netanyahu said the Palestinian state would also have to recognize Israel as the Jewish state — essentially saying Palestinian refugees must give up the goal of returning to Israel.
With those conditions, he said, he could accept "a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside the Jewish state."
That's fairly clear, no?
Yes, you could argue about whether the Netanyahu definition of the Pal. state is a precondition or not or a fact-of-life factor like one state should not make war against another.
But if those Arabs can't grasp that Netanyahu agreed in principle to a state and all they have to do is accept a little to get a lot, do they deserve a state?
Maybe this
saying the Palestinians would have to lay down arms, a condition they swiftly rejected
is the problem?
Yes, I admit, I am hoping they continue in their obtuseness and stubbornness but, goodness, the Pals. seem to be missing another opportunity.
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