THE PALESTINIANS yesterday rejected the terms of an offer by Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu to renew the freeze on building in West Bank settlements in return for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
Nabil Abu Rdainah, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, said a return to direct peace talks required a freeze on settlement building by Israel.
Addressing the opening of the winter session of the Knesset parliament, Mr Netanyahu said: “If the Palestinian leadership will say unequivocally to its people that it recognises Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, I will be ready to convene my government and request a further suspension.”
Even though contacts have taken place over the last few weeks between Jerusalem and Washington over a formula for getting the peace talks back on track, this was the first time Mr Netanyahu has stated in public that he will be willing to renew the construction moratorium – under certain circumstances.
The Palestinians pulled out of direct peace talks when Israel renewed settlement construction at the beginning of this month, following the end of the 10-month freeze.
Peace prospects received another setback yesterday when an Israeli ministerial committee backed a Bill requiring the ceding of Israeli territory to be approved in a referendum in addition to receiving the support of at least 60 of the 120 members of the Knesset.
The measure, if approved by the Knesset, would cover occupied east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, both annexed by Israel.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of France and Spain reacted angrily to comments made by their Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, accusing him in a phone conversation yesterday of “violating every rule of diplomatic etiquette”.
Mr Lieberman hosted French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner and Spain’s Miguel Angel Moratinos on Sunday night and told them that they should solve Europe’s problems before giving advice to Israel.
“I don’t expect you to solve the problems of the world, but I certainly expect that before you come here to teach us how to solve conflicts, you will deal with the problems in Europe and solve those conflicts,” he said, citing the Caucasus, Cyprus, Serbia and Kosovo as examples.
He also noted the policy of European appeasement in response to the rise of Hitler in the 1930s, telling them “Israel will not be the Czechoslovakia of 2010”.
The two European foreign ministers, in a phone conversation with Mr Lieberman yesterday, complained not only about his comments, but the fact they were leaked to the Israeli media within an hour of the end of the meeting. They accused him of violating their trust.
Mr Lieberman, considered the most right-wing Israeli minister in the current cabinet, has a reputation of being a political loose cannon and not being afraid to speak his mind.
He played down the differences with the European foreign ministers, describing them as “arguments amongst friends”. He said the meeting went well and that he did not reprimand anyone.