Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said only after Israel halts settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories will direct talks between the sides resume.
Speaking with the Ma'an news agency, Rudeineh said President Mahmoud Abbas’s hesitancy to return to direct peace talks was not based on negotiations, but rather his commitment to guidelines set by the Arab League.
Last week in Cairo, the Arab league gave Abbas the green light to enter direct talks with Israel when he deems the time right.
Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said he is ready to engage in direct talks with the Palestinians immediately and without any preconditions.
Abbas has been quoted saying only after the Palestinian Authority receives guarantees that Israel will impose a freeze on all settlement building and agree the borders of the future Palestinian state will be based on the June 1967 lines, will he agree to direct talks.
Rudeineh told the news agency the Palestinians have yet to receive a response to a letter sent by the Arab League to U.S. President Barack Obama, asking that a timeframe be slapped on negotiations.
Abu Rudeineh warned that direct negotiations with Israel will not resume until the Palestinians receive all the necessary assurances.
Meanwhile The Jerusalem Post said Friday that Saudi Arabia is urging Abbas to enter direct talks with Israel by offering financial assistance. The paper said this was the reason for the meeting between Abbas and Saudi Arabia’s ruler King Abdullah in Riyadh Wednesday.
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