In 2010, Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu (right) shook hands in Washington.
Image: dpa/EPA/Michael Reynolds
“He’s a man who doesn’t believe in peace,” says Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Benjamin Netanyahu. Nevertheless, he would sit down again at a table with Israel’s election winner.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is ready to negotiate a solution to the Middle East conflict with Israeli election winner Benjamin Netanyahu. “I’ve known Netanyahu for a long time, since the 1990s,” he said on Palestinian television on Sunday. “He’s a man who doesn’t believe in peace, but I have no choice but to negotiate with him.”
There must be a peaceful solution to the decades-long conflict. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have stalled since 2014. “I have a problem with Israel, Israel is occupying my country,” Abbas said. “Who is the Prime Minister? Netanyahu. I am forced to negotiate with him.”
Netanyahu, who was previously the head of government in Israel, has been commissioned by President Isaac Herzog to form a new government. Netanyahu announced on Sunday that he would sign peace agreements with other Arab countries. This could contribute to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Under Netanyahu’s previous administration, Israel had normalized its relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
The bloc of right-wing, ultra-right and religious forces led by Netanyahu won a majority in the Knesset in the November 1 election. There are 120 seats in the Knesset.
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