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Palestinian official urges Israel to seize opportunity, endorse two-state solution

Xinhua, June 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

A senior Palestinian official said Wednesday that now it is the right time for Israel to support a two-state solution which would see the Jewish nation officially recognise the State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders.

"The two-state solution is a win-win situation even though it is a historical compromise on behalf of the Palestinians," senior advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on negotiations, Mohammad Shtayyeh, told press in Geneva's UN headquarters.

"Today is the moment to save a two-state solution because tomorrow Israel will find itself in a South African model," he added.

Shtayyeh projected that by 2020 Palestinians will account for 53 percent of the population in historical Palestine, making Israel a de facto apartheid nation in which a Jewish minority governs a Palestinian majority.

In light of the region's demographics and growing international consensus on a two-state solution, Shtayyeh reiterated his support for the French initiative of holding an international conference for peace in the Middle East in a bid to revive talks and broker a solution to end decades of conflict.

"The way we see the French initiative is a coalition against occupation," he said, adding "it took us 50 years to reach a situation in which there is an international consensus on two states."

By moving from a bilateral system mediated by the United States to a multilateral system of negotiations, Shtayyeh hoped that the paradigm-shift will lead to the internationalisation of the solution.

"The French initiative is a breaking of the American monopoly as a shepherd of the process," he explained, while calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to recognise the State of Palestine before he leaves office at the beginning of next year.

With 23 years of direct negotiations failing to provide concrete results, Shtayyeh also urged the Israeli government to recognise the need to adopt a different approach if a lasting and acceptable solution for both parties is to be reached.

"If there is any wise man in the Israeli political elite, the moment is right to preserve two states, today is the moment for Israel to recognise Palestine," he said. Endit