Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sent out a list of “red line” requirements for a peace deal with Israel, preempting an American-forged agreement that was supposed to take shape in the next few weeks.
Among the red lines: Israel must withdraw “from all Palestinian territories occupied in 1967” within the next three or four years, Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told the Times of Israel.
Israel, for its part, says the contested lands were justifiable spoils of an attack by its enemies. Another requirement is that East Jerusalem must be recognized as the official capital of the Palestinian state.
Without these concessions, Mr. Abbas vowed no peace deal could be forged, the Times of Israel reported.
His list, which came amid a U.S. effort to broker a peace deal with terms satisfactory to both the PA and Israel, was sent to the key leaders in the Middle East and to President Obama.
“These are the red lines of the Palestinian position, since without these principles there can be no just and comprehensive peace in the region,” Mr. Rudeineh told the Times of Israel.
The four-year withdrawal deadline is a year earlier than what Mr. Abbas agreed to in early February, when he was quoted in a New York Times article as saying the Israelis would have five years to withdraw.
Mr. Abbas also called for a three-year withdrawal deadline for Israel in a televised interview in Tel Aviv shortly before the New York Times published his statement, the Times of Israel reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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