Mr Netanyahu's speech on Tuesday was filled with "falsehoods and
distortions", according to Mr Abbas, leader of the Palestine Liberation
Organisation and his Fatah movement. "He did nto say anything we can
build on positively".
His comments were the first time he responded publicy to the series of four
speech by Mr Netanyahu and President Barack Obama over the past week.
"Our first choice is negotiations, but if there is no progress before
September we will go to the United Nations," he added.
Mr Obama, speaking in London yesterday, made his most explicit remarks yet on
a possible Palestinian bid for recognition.
"The only way we are going to see a Palestinian state is if Israelis and
Palestinians agree on a just peace," Mr Obama said. Mr Obama's
opposition to such a move is echoed by Israel.
"I strongly believe for the Palestinians
to take the United Nations route rather than the path of sitting down and
talking with Israelis is a mistake."
On Tuesday, Mr Netanyahu said Israel was prepare to make "painful
compromises" for peace, in a deal that would leave some outlying Jewish
settelements beyond the state's agreed borders.
But he continues to rule out a division of Jerusalem, the return of
Palestinian refugees and the possibility of using the borders that existed
before 1967 as a basis for peace negotiations. Days earlier, Mr Obama had
called for new talks based on the 1967 lines.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been on hold since last
September, when they ground to halt over the issue of Israeli settlement
construction, shortly after the talks were relaunched in Washington.
Mr Netanyahu refused to renew a partial settlement ban that expired shortly
after the talks began, and the Palestinians have said they will not hold
negotiations while Israel builds on land they want for a future state.
In the absence of peace talks, the Palestinian leadership has said it plans to
go the United Nations in September and seek recognition for a Palestinian
state and membership in the organisation.
