19-04-2024 12:16 PM Jerusalem Timing

18 Years after Failed Peace Talks, Netanyahu to Abbas: Let’s Meet Today

18 Years after Failed Peace Talks, Netanyahu to Abbas: Let’s Meet Today

Netanyahu urged Mahmoud Abbas to meet with him at the United Nations to discuss the failed Middle East peace efforts

After 18 years of failed “peace talks” and after being fully satisfied with the US Administration stance in the UN, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to meet with him at the United Nations to discuss Middle East “peace” efforts.

"Let's meet today in the United Nations," Netanyahu said in an appeal launched during his address to the UN General Assembly shortly after Abbas presented a formal bid for UN membership for a Palestinian state.

"I cannot make peace alone. I cannot make peace without you," Netanyahu told Abbas. "We are both sons of Abraham ... our destinies are intertwined."

But Abbas was due to leave New York later, leaving the UN Security Council to wrestle with the Palestinians request that is likely to take several weeks before being brought to a vote, leaving time for further negotiations.

Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly that he was “reaching out” to the Palestinian people but cautioned that “peace” could not be won with a UN resolution.

Netanyahu claimed Israel was prepared to make "painful compromises".

"The Palestinians should live in a future state of their own, but they should be ready for compromise," he said, adding that Palestinians had to ensure Israel's security.

"I extend my hand to the Palestinian people," Netanyahu told the 193-nation assembly. "The truth is that Israel wants peace. The truth is that I want peace ... The Palestinians should first make peace with Israel and then get their state," he said.

Netanyahu added that if there was such a peace, "Israel will not be the last state to welcome a Palestinian state into the United Nations. We will be the first." It was also time for the Palestinians to acknowledge that "Israel is the Jewish state," he told the assembly.