Slamming Israel’s “abhorrent” settlement policy, Abbas demanded the United Nations take a bigger role in the effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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“Those who believe in the two-state solution should recognise both states, and not just one of them”, Abbas said. “We are following the number of meetings to make sure that one side doesn’t get more meetings than the other”.
Later, Netanyahu and Israel’s United Nations ambassador, Danny Danon, hosted an event in which representatives of Israel’s tech, solar and medical industries presented their innovations to diplomats from Africa and developing countries elsewhere. The meeting was Trump’s first with a Muslim leader.
In his speech, Abbas also accused Israel of perpetrating extrajudicial killings against Palestinians, an allegation Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon vehemently rejected.
“He talked about making 2017 the year Palestine is finally recognised and the occupation comes to an end”, our correspondent said.
The unprecedented invitation came during Netanyahu’s speech before the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday in New York City.
But he also insisted Israel’s relations with much of the world were rapidly improving, even in the Arab world, where he said many countries are increasingly seeing Israel as an ally against the Islamic State group and Iran.
Peace talks last collapsed in 2014 and there are few hopes for a resumption anytime soon in part because of Israeli anger at Palestinian attacks and Palestinian criticism of Israel’s construction of settlements on occupied land where Palestinians want to establish a state. During that conflict, more than 2,100 Palestinians were killed, mostly civilians, United Nations officials have said, while about 70 Israelis died, mostly soldiers.
“The settlements are illegal in every aspect”, Abbas said.
Abbas said that Britain should recognise Palestine as a state in order to correct its past mistakes.
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Abbas called on Israel to cease settlement expansion, “collective punishment and…demolition of Palestinian homes”, as well as “extrajudicial executions” and “aggression and provocations against the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque” on the Temple Mount.
