Jerusalem Post
November 25, 2009
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday accused US President Barack Obama of doing “nothing” to achieve peace in the Middle East. Speaking to Argentinian newspaper Clarin, Abbas said he hoped that Obama would “take a more important role in the future.”
He went on to say that the Palestinian people were awaiting US pressure on Israel, “so that it respects international law and takes up the Road Map,” stressing that the peace process could not be restarted without a halt to settlement construction.
When asked what he was willing to concede for peace, Abbas told Clarin that the Palestinian people had “already made concessions.”
He opined that the current government, with Binyamin Netanyahu as prime minister and Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister, “is not seeking peace,” though he said that 73 percent of Israelis were in favor of peace.
In terms of internal Palestinian rifts, Abbas said that elections were the best way to bring about unity.
During a press conference with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, Abbas urged Obama and other Israeli allies to pressure Israel to halt settlement construction.
For her part, Fernandez said that Israel and the United States should do more to push for peace in the Middle East.
