Following a six-hour meeting with his security cabinet, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu somewhat nailed the coffin of what seemed to be a promising peace agreement with the Palestinian government when he announced that its ongoing negotiations with the Palestines has been suspended until notice. BBC said Netanyahu's announcement came at the heels of an earlier declaration of a unity accord between Palestinian party Fatah and Hamas on Wednesday.
Netanyahu told BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen that the only way for the peace talks with Palestines to be revived is when Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas abandons the unity deal it has struck with Hamas. The Israeli leader commented that the unity accord was a giant leap backwards towards achieving peace with the Palestinian region.
In a separate statement following the announcement of the Fatah-Hamas accord, Netanyahu said, "(Our government would) not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas, a terror organisation that calls for the destruction of Israel. (The deal was) a direct continuation of the Palestinian refusal to advance the negotiations. (President Abbas had) formed an alliance with an organization whose charter calls for Muslims to fight the Jews and kill them. Those who choose the terrorism of Hamas do not want peace. (Israel would take) a number of additional measures (in response to the Palestinians') unilateral moves."
BBC noted that the Israeli-Palestine peace talks, which has been stretched too long, was marred in what US seemed to be as unhelpful steps early this month. The US-backed peace talks had Washington officials reportedly pushing for a final agreement to be set beyond Tuesday, which was the date scheduled for both parties to come down to an outline of an agreement following the continuation of the talks in July after a three-year break.
The Israeli government had already stated that it will be deducting debt payments from tax revenues that were collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and will also limit the PA's access to deposits in the country's banks.
The White House seemed to have agreed with Israel's opinion over the Fatah-Hamas accord. A senior US official had said in a statement to Reuters, "Any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to non-violence, recognition of the state of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties."
