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Comments (0)A spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to stop criticizing the Palestinian Authority president for entering into direct talks with Israel.
“The one who does not represent the Iranian people, who falsified election results, who oppressed the Iranian people and stole authority has no right to speak about Palestine, its president or its representatives,” Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh said Saturday, according to the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency, citing the official PA news agency Wafa.
“We are the ones who fought for Palestine and Jerusalem ... the Palestinian leadership did not oppress its people as did the Iranian leadership under Ahmadinejad,” Rudaineh said.
The statement came in response to a speech last Friday delivered as peace talks began in Washington in which Ahmadinejad said that Abbas lacked legitimacy to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians and accused him of being a hostage to Israel, according to Ma’an. He also said the talks are “doomed to fail.”
Lieberman Calls Peace ‘Unattainable Goal’
A comprehensive peace between Israel and the Palestinians is “an unattainable goal,” Israel’s foreign minister said.
Avigdor Lieberman called instead Sunday for a long-term interim agreement during a Yisrael Beiteinu party event to welcome Rosh Hashanah.
Also Sunday, the U.S. State Department announced that after the Sept. 14 meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheik, the direct talks will move to Jerusalem.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will visit Jerusalem to supervise the talks; she will be joined by senior U.S. envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell.
“You have to understand that signing a comprehensive peace agreement is an unattainable goal—not next year and not in the next generation,” Lieberman said. “There is nothing we can do about it. No historical compromise and no painful concession (will do).”
Lieberman also said there is “no good reason to continue the settlement freeze.”
“We are willing to discuss anything, but there will be no more unilateral gestures,” he said. “We will not agree to any settlement freeze—not for six months, not for three months, not for one minute.”
New Israeli Military Chief is Confirmed
Israel’s Cabinet confirmed the appointment of the country’s new military chief of staff.
Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant, the head of the Southern Command of the Israel Defense Forces, was confirmed Sunday in a nearly unanimous vote of the Cabinet. He succeeds Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, who has served for the past four years.
Ashkenazi said Sunday that he will step down as scheduled in February, despite rumors that he would leave his position once Galant was confirmed. He was not extended by an extra year, as is traditional.
Likud’s Michael Eitan was the lone vote against the appointment of Galant by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the appointment, saying “Yoav Galant has proven himself over 33 years of service on the front line of the IDF as a brave fighter, an outstanding officer and a sagacious and responsible commander in battle.”
Prior to heading the Southern Command, Galant guided the Israeli Navy’s commando unit, the IDF’s Jenin Brigade and its Gaza unit, and was the prime minister’s military secretary.
Israel’s Channel 2 television last month reported on a document leaked to the station, called the “Galant document,” which allegedly outlined a public relations campaign for Galant in order to achieve the chief of staff position. The document was deemed a fake by police. Galant has not been implicated in the scandal.