Israel Radio on Wednesday reported a quote from Qatari newspapers stating Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he would be willing to negotiate with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, but only after the prime Minister called a complete halt to all construction in the settlements. Abbas also added the precondition that Israel recognize the 1967 borders for a Palestinian state.
The settlement issue should be considered as part of peace negotiations, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said at a news conference in Jerusalem late on Saturday.
"There has never been a precondition. It's always been an issue within the negotiations," she said.
She said Israel has made "unprecedented" concessions on settlement building.
On Sunday the Palestinians accused the US of “killing any chance of peace negotiations after backing Israel.”
Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said "The negotiations are in a state of paralysis, and the result of Israel's intransigence and America's back-pedaling is that there is no hope of negotiations on the horizon."
In a recent statement Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu following his visit to Cairo, he called for the resumption of peace talks. In response to the call to resume peace talks, Abbas said Netanyahu statements were vague and needed clarification.
Abbas Speaking at the Sheraton Doha was quoted by Qatari daily Gulf Times on the failed reconciliation attempts with Hamas, he explaining that Hamas negotiators had kept asking for last-minute changes in what Abbas sees as an attempt to halt the reconciliation process.
