Netanyahu: Abbas’ Libel Against Jews Again Proves He Does Not Seek Peace

During the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, before flying to Rome to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the peace process, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that ‘Abu Mazen [Abbas], last week, again proved to the entire world that he is not interested in direct negotiations with Israel… I think that people can conclude from this who wants to advance peace and a peace process – and who does not.’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Palestinian Authority (PA) head Mahmoud Abbas’ effort to spread a malicious libel about Jews when he addressed the European Union (EU) last week, proves “to the entire world” that he is not interested in peace with Israel and is not a partner in bringing about a resolution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Speaking during the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said that “Abu Mazen [Abbas], last week, again proved to the entire world that he is not interested in direct negotiations with Israel.”

“Worse, he also spread abhorrent lies about the State of Israel and Judaism. True, he quickly apologized, a halfhearted half-apology, but the things he said there were in keeping with what he has said about us on other occasions, including at the UN General Assembly,” The Israeli leader stressed.

“Therefore, I think that people can conclude from this who wants to advance peace and a peace process – and who does not,” he concluded.

In a fiery speech to the European Union (EU) in Brussels on Thursday, Abbas repeated unsubstantiated claims of an Israeli rabbi’s plot to poison Palestinian wells, sparking accusations of anti-Semitism.

Netanyahu’s office initially responded by stating that Abbas showed his “true face” by spreading such a “blood libel” and called on him to cease inciting against Israel.

Likewise, while in Brussels, Abbas refused to meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin who was also in the city, notwithstanding attempts by the Europeans to arrange such a meeting and despite Rivlin’s consent.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon responded to Abbas’s refusal to meet with Rivlin in Brussels by saying that Abbas revealed himself as some one “who is constantly rejecting peace.”

“Mahmoud Abbas has revealed his true colors to the international community as the one who is constantly rejecting peace. Instead of agreeing to meet President Rivlin, or accepting Prime Minister Netanyahu’s repeated offers to begin direct negotiations, Abbas continues to incite against Israel,” said Danon.

“His lies that Israel is committing ‘mass murder’ of Palestinians, and his representative’s comparison between the Jewish state and the Nazi regime are examples of the incitement spread by the Palestinian Authority,” Danon said.

By: Max Gelber, United with Israel