Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said to a group of reporters in Egypt on Tuesday that any peace plan with Israel would have to include this concession: Israelis would be forever banned from Palestinian properties.
“In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli — civilian or soldier — on our lands,” he said, The Times of Israel reported.
His statements come as Israeli and Palestinian heads are engaged in peace talks in Washington, D.C. Mr. Abbas, meanwhile, was in Egypt to further relations between the Palestinian Authority and newly seated government officials in Cairo.
Mr. Abbas mentioned other peace talk requirements as well, The Times of Israel reported. Number two on the list — behind the ban on Israeli presence on any future Palestinian state — was the halt of all construction projects in disputed territories.
“There was a request, ’We’ll only build here, what do you think?’ If I agreed, I would legitimize all the rest [of the settlements]. I said no. I said out loud and in writing that, to us, settlements in their entirety are illegitimate,” he said, The Times of Israel reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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