Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Tuesday called for a resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in order to solve their longstanding conflict. Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Sisi said, “We cannot talk about the peaceful settlement of disputes as a founding principle of the United Nations and indicator of its credibility, without citing the Palestinian cause. It stands as a perfect example of the failure of the international system to find a just solution to the conflict, based on international legitimacy and United Nations resolutions, that guarantees the establishment of a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital.” “The terms of reference of this just solution and the determinants of a final settlement are well known,” he continued. “There is no time to waste on such a debate. What is required is the political will to resume negotiations and achieve a settlement in accordance with these determinants.” The Egyptian President added that “the Arabs are still stretching out their hands in peace. Our peoples deserve to turn this tragic page in history, and the Palestinian people deserve to exercise their legitimate rights.” Sisi, whose country became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, has in the past urged Israelis and Palestinian Arabs to take advantage the opportunity and resume peace talks. He has also stressed that his country was serious about pushing those talks forward. His comments come as the US continues to work on a peace proposal for the sides. However, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has refused to consider the Trump administration an honest broker for negotiations since Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last December. The PA has already rejected the peace plan before it has even been made public.
