Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is "apolitical maneuver," the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) said on Sunday.

"This political maneuver is part of public relations rather than an effort to make peace," said Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian peace negotiator, "we tell Netanyahu that there is a difference between public relations and peace-making."

During the Israeli cabinet meeting today, Netanyahu called on Abbas "to meet to reach a political and economic peace."

"Netanyahu wants to show that it is the PNA who rejects the peace negotiations," Erekat added in an interview with Xinhua.

He accused the hawkish Israeli leader of blocking chances of further talks over Jerusalem, settlements and other final-status issues.

The US launched the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 2007 and the two sides failed to make any progress towards creating a Palestinian statehood alongside Israel. The talks actually stopped in December 2008 when Israel launched an offensive into the Gaza Strip.

The PNA says the talks can not resume unless Netanyahu, who took office in early April, clearly shows his commitment to the US-backed Road Map peace plan which envisions the two-state solutions.

"Israel is the side which refuses to carry out its commitments like freezing the settlement activities and halting the so-called natural growth," Erekat said.

Israel says it can stop the Jewish settlement in the West Bank but can't stop expanding the existing blocs to meet the needs of the settler families.

"The settlement must either stop or continue, there is no middle-ground to resume the negotiations," Erekat said, adding that the talks "if resumed" must continue and build on earlier achievements.

(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2009)