ABBAS HOPES ISRAEL TO OPT FOR PEACE

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on August 22 expressed his hope that Israel will choose the peace option and not the settlement one. The Palestinian president’s remarks came in a letter the chief Palestinian negotiator sent to US President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton invited the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to launch direct Middle East peace talks on September 2 in Washington. She said peace negotiations can be completed within one year and that the talks should start without precondition. The Israeli government has described the PA’s demand to freeze the Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank as a precondition. The PA, on the other hand, has asserted that Israel has imposed conditions for the talks by repeatedly mentioning its requirements that cannot be negotiated in any peace deal.