Palestinians press for international peace conference to renew talks with Israel
Top Palestinian diplomat Riad Malki on Monday called for an international peace conference as the only way to renew talks with Israel, AP reported.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 18, 2020. Photo by Flash90.
According to the report, this comes on the heels of a similar call last month by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly.
During his speech, Abbas called for such an international conference to take place in early 2021, and for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to prepare for the event with the Quartet of Middle East mediators, made up of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft did not rule out the idea, but expressed doubt that it would be successful.
“We have no objection to meeting with international partners to discuss the issue. But I have to ask: How is this different than every other meeting convened on this issue over the past 60 years?” she reportedly posed.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan said that Israel opposes the Palestinian initiative, pointing to Abbas’s having rejected “every peace offer made by the State of Israel,” including the current rejection of normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and, most recently, Sudan.
JNS
