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Palestinian Pres: “We Don’t Accept the Jewish State or the Jewishness” of Israel

by TheTower.org Staff |

Israeli negotiators have long emphasized that any robust Israeli-Palestinian peace deal must include a formal recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Israeli officials have gone so far as to foreground the issue as one covering “90% of the conflict,” and it was described in 2011 by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “basic demand.”

Netnayahu at the time implored Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to match Netanyahu’s own acceptance of a Jewish state:

“I stood before my people and said I would accept a Palestinian state,” Netanyahu told a Jewish Agency Board of Trustees meeting in Jerusalem, in remarks carried by Army Radio. “Now President Abbas must stand before his people and say, ‘I accept a Jewish state’.” Netanyahu directly addressed Abbas in this plea, imploring the Palestinian president: “Just say these words – ‘I accept a Jewish state’. It is a basic demand for peace.”

At stake are a number of issues. Palestinian intransigence regarding Israel as a Jewish homeland has been taken by Israelis as a signal that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is, for the Palestinians, one over the fundamental existence of Israel rather than one over territory. Palestinian leaders including Abbas have also at times sought to deny the historical and religious connections of Jews to Israel. Those denials have been linked to systematic incitement toward violence.

For his part Abbas has consistently refused entrities to acknowledge Israel as a Jewish state. Meetings have literally been adjourned due to his personal, specific stance. The Palestinian leader reiterated his position on Monday:

The statements were published by Abbas’s office on the eve of his meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Bethlehem to discuss the crisis in the peace talks with Israel…. Abbas reiterated his opposition to demands to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. “We don’t accept the Jewish state or the Jewishness of the state,” he emphasized. “This is something that we won’t accept.”

Rumors floated yesterday by Israeli politicians hinted that the U.S. is preparing its own bridging proposals in case the Israelis and Palestinians are unable to forge such an agreement.

[Photo: Tech. Sgt. Jacob N. Bailey, U.S. Air Force / Wiki Commons]

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