Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, responded today to remarks by Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu in which he said that he would offer self-rule to the Palestinians but security would remain in the hands of Israel saying Netanyahu’s remarks are unacceptable and constitute a challenge to United Nations resolutions, especially Security Council Resolution 2334, which considered all settlements in the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, illegal.
He affirmed that “the Palestinian people have the right to establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, which is the basis for achieving a just peace based on international legitimacy resolutions.”
Netanyahu told the American National Public Radio that the “Palestinians have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten our life, which means that security, in whatever political arrangements we’ll have, realistically will have to remain in Israel’s hands.”
Such statements, added the presidential spokesman, “show the world the true Israeli intentions hostile to international legitimacy and international law, and that there is no Israeli partner who wants to achieve peace based on international legitimacy,” stressing that “without giving the Palestinian people their legitimate rights, there will be no security and peace for anyone.”
Abu Rudeineh continued: “The countries of the world are tired of these Israeli positions and the continuation of the occupation’s crimes. Israel’s violation of international law will make it legally accountable.”
He warned of the danger of Israeli policies that seek to perpetuate Israeli occupation and apartheid, holding the US administration responsible for fulfilling its promises in preserving the two-state solution and the historical status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites.
“There will be no peace with the policy of annexation and apartheid. There will be no peace as long as the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people continues,” stressed Abu Rudeineh.
Source: Palestine News & Information Agency