Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations slammed Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday, following the PA leader’s address at the UN Security Council. Abbas had accused Israel of ‘closing the door’ on the two-state solution, and refusing peace talks with the PA – despite Israel’s support for a return to direct negotiations brokered by the United States. In response, Ambassador Danny Danon said Abbas was “longer part of the solution” to the Middle East conflict – but instead was part of the problem. “You have made it clear, with your words and with your actions, that you are no longer part of the solution. You are the problem.” The PA leader had used his address at the Security Council to call for a Mideast peace conference later this year as an alternative to the traditional direct, bilateral talks which had served as the basis for establishment of the PA under the 1993 Oslo Accords. "To solve the Palestine question, it is essential to establish a multilateral international mechanism emanating from an international conference," Abbas said at the UN Security Council. In response, Danon called Abbas’ plan a figleaf for the PA’s support for jailed terrorists and its promotion of anti-Israel incitement. “You just addressed the members of the Security Council and spoke of your commitments to peace. This is what you often do when speaking to international forums,” Danon explained, “but, when you address your people, you convey a very different message.” “Mr. Abbas, your incitement does not end with rhetoric. You have made it official Palestinian policy to sponsor terrorism. In 2017, you spent $345 million paying terrorists for killing innocent Israelis. That is fifty percent of the total foreign aid donated to the PA. This is money you could have spent building forty hospitals. This is money you could have used to build over 170 schools. Every single year.” Danon praised the Trump administration, for its efforts to restart negotiations and decried the PA’s refusal to accept the US as a broker. “The current US administration is once again working hard to make progress towards peace. Mr. Abbas, however, is once again looking hard for an excuse. This time, he claims it was the American announcement about Jerusalem that drove him to reject negotiations.” “Let me be clear. For thousands of years, Jerusalem has been the heart and soul of our people… and it will remain the undivided capital of the State of Israel forever.”
