Acting Palestinian Authority (PA) chief Mahmoud Abbas says he would not recognize Israel as a Jewish state.Abbas made the remarks during a speech in front of hundreds of Palestinians in the West bank city of Ramallah on Saturday, adding Palestinians would not drop demands for a capital in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
The PA chief said he would not accept a solution that fails to include East al-Quds as the capital of a Palestinian state.
"Without east Jerusalem as a capital of the state of Palestine, there will be no peace between us and Israel," he said, adding, "We will not recognize it We will not accept and it's our right not to recognize the Jewish state."
Abbass remarks followed a Fridays announcement regarding Tel Avivs plans to build 1,400 more illegal settlement units --1,800 according to some reports --in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) amid the so-called peace talks between Palestinian and Israeli officials.
The fresh round of negotiations began in July 2013 to end the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the so-called two-state solution after a three-year hiatus.
Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds and the besieged Gaza Strip and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories.
Tel Aviv, however, has refused to return to the 1967 borders and is unwilling to discuss the issue of al-Quds. Even days before the start of the talks Israel announced plans for more than 2,000 new settler units in East al-Quds and the West Bank, which angered Palestinians.
By Press TV
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