The agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize ties will kill the two-state solution, strengthen “extremists” and undermine the “possibility of peace,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says.
The fractured Palestinian leadership — from the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank to the Hamas Islamist terror group in the Gaza Strip — is united in its opposition to the UAE-Israel deal announced Thursday by US President Donald Trump.
Palestine Liberation Organization Secretary-General Saeb Erekat speaks at the J Street National Conference, in Washington, October 28, 2019. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
“I really believe that this step is a killer to the two-state solution,” Erekat says.
He argues that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have less incentive to compromise on a viable Palestinian state “if he believes that Arab countries will line up to make peace with him.”
In a conference call with foreign reporters, Erekat says that “people like Netanyahu and extremists in Israel believe that the two-state solution is off the table.”
Meanwhile, “extremists on my side are (saying), ‘we told you so from the beginning: the two state solution is off the table’,” he adds.
Erekat condemns the agreement as a “desperate attempt” by Trump to notch a foreign policy success.
— with AFP
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