As the Israeli-Palestinian talks remain in deadlock, Palestinian officials criticized the Israeli government of using lip services and groundless comments to deflect attention away from Israel's refusal to implement its Road Map obligations.

Israel;s lip services

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Palestine's recognition of Israel as a Jewish state was key to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"I am convinced that the root of the solution is in the refusal to recognize the Jewish state," Netanyahu told a state ceremony to mark the 105th anniversary of the death of the odor Herzl, the father of modern Zionism.

"Therefore, the key to peace is the explicit recognition by the Palestinians of Israel as a Jewish state," he added.

He also said that Palestinians "must finally abandon the demand" to resettle families of hundreds of thousands of refugees in Israel, which he said could undermine the country's existence.

In his speech in June, the Israeli prime minister talked of the support of establishment of a Palestinian state for the first time, but putting recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, demilitarization of the future Palestine state as the conditions for the establishment.

Palestinian Parliament (PLC) member Ziad Abu Amr told Xinhua that Netanyahu's recent use of the term two-state solution did not mean a change in direction for his administration's policy on the matter.

"Netanyahu's statement regarding his acceptance of a two-state solution was made under pressure in a reluctant way," Abu Amr said, adding that the conditions he added to the establishment of a Palestinian state following the statement showed he was not willing to meet the Palestinian requirements.

"These things need to be negotiated and not stated as a precondition," he said.

Some analysts said Netanyahu's linkage of the two-state solution to certain stipulations was a strategic move to draw nearer to US President Barack Obama's standpoint.

"I think Netanyahu is trying to appease the Obama administration," Khaled Abu Toameh, a Palestinian affairs analyst, told Xinhua. "A Palestinian state but under conditions, will not be acceptable to Palestinian leaders," he said.

Deflecting attention

However, Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the Palestinian side was also to blame for the long-stalled peace talks.

As Abbas' authority or legitimacy "deteriorates or declines, he raises his demands and toughens his position," Lieberman told Israel Radio on Monday.

The Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported that he made the comments in response to a recent pledge by Abbas restating the PLO's expectations of a complete return to pre-1967 borders, the right of return of Palestinians to Israel proper, and Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, and in addition demanded a complete freeze of construction in the Jewish communities strewn around the West Bank.

Toameh said that the Palestinians, like Netanyahu, were looking to buy time.

"I think they know that nothing is going to come out of these talks and they see the clash between Netanyahu and Obama," he said, adding that the Palestinians secretly hoped their position might increase pressure by the Obama administration on Israel.

Such remarks were immediately rebutted by the Palestinians.

"By criticizing the presidency of Mahmoud Abbas, Israel's foreign minister is hoping to deflect attention away from Israel's refusal to implement its obligations under the Road Map, including a comprehensive settlement freeze," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said, according to a statement sent to Xinhua.

"I doubt such diversion tactics will wash with the international community, and certainly do not deserve much attention from those of us who are committed to peace," he said, adding that "Palestinians stand ready to negotiate with an Israeli government committed to the two-state solution and to honoring existing agreements between Israel and the PLO."

Erakat insisted all that the Palestinian requires are written in the previous agreements reached between the two sides.

"Israel's refusal to implement its obligations under existing agreements has undermined the very credibility of the peace process. For negotiations to be credible, Israel must implement those obligations it has already agreed to, such as a comprehensive settlement freeze, including so-called "natural growth," lifting restrictions on Palestinian movement and access and ending the siege on Gaza," said Erakat.

Jews rights in future Palestinian state

In fact, some new suggestions emerged from the Palestinian officials.

"Jews would enjoy freedom and civil rights in a future Palestinian state," Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in a panel discussion at the Aspen Institute which was also attended by former director of US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) James Woolsey.

"Jews, to the extent they choose to stay and live in the state of Palestine, will enjoy those rights and certainly will not enjoy any less rights than Israeli Arabs enjoy now in the state of Israel," Fayyad was quoted by Aspen Daily News as saying.

Gershon Baskin, Israeli chief executive and founder of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI), however, said he believed that though Fayyad represented a minority position, his statement was of great significance, as it could have an influence on Palestinian society itself.

"Fayyad was voicing a very positive position," Baskin told Xinhua.

(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2009)