RAMALLAH - The United States should openly blame Israel for the "collapse" of the peace process, a senior Palestinian official said yesterday, in one of the bleakest assessments yet on Middle East peace efforts.
New Israeli plans to build near East Jerusalem show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not want to resume peace talks, Palestinian officials said.
"It's time for the American administration to tell the world that Israel holds the responsibility for the collapse of this peace process," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.
"Israel has chosen settlements and not peace," he said.
The US has been trying to revive direct negotiations between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but weeks of diplomacy have yet to yield a breakthrough.
The Palestinians want Israel to halt all construction on land where they aim to found an independent state, including areas in and around Jerusalem captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Abbas and Netanyahu held three rounds of direct talks in September but the Palestinians withdrew from the negotiations three weeks after they started when Israel lifted restrictions on settlement building in the West Bank.
Netanyahu had imposed the restrictions for 10 months. He has faced strong opposition within his cabinet to any further curbs on settlement building. His government is dominated by parties that support the settlers, including his own rightist Likud.
Israel announced on Wednesday plans for 625 new homes in Pisgat Zeev, which is built on West Bank land Israel annexed to its Jerusalem municipality immediately after the 1967 war.
"This Israeli signal shows that they are not willing and not ready for any deal in order to resume the negotiations," Nabil Abu Rdainah, Abbas's spokesperson, said.
Israel blamed for collapse of peace plan
RAMALLAH - The United States should openly blame Israel for the "collapse" of the peace process, a senior Palestinian official said yesterday, in one of the bleakest assessments yet on Middle East peace efforts.
New Israeli plans to build near East Jerusalem show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not want to resume peace talks, Palestinian officials said.
"It's time for the American administration to tell the world that Israel holds the responsibility for the collapse of this peace process," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.
"Israel has chosen settlements and not peace," he said.
The US has been trying to revive direct negotiations between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but weeks of diplomacy have yet to yield a breakthrough.
The Palestinians want Israel to halt all construction on land where they aim to found an independent state, including areas in and around Jerusalem captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Abbas and Netanyahu held three rounds of direct talks in September but the Palestinians withdrew from the negotiations three weeks after they started when Israel lifted restrictions on settlement building in the West Bank.
Netanyahu had imposed the restrictions for 10 months. He has faced strong opposition within his cabinet to any further curbs on settlement building. His government is dominated by parties that support the settlers, including his own rightist Likud.
Israel announced on Wednesday plans for 625 new homes in Pisgat Zeev, which is built on West Bank land Israel annexed to its Jerusalem municipality immediately after the 1967 war.
"This Israeli signal shows that they are not willing and not ready for any deal in order to resume the negotiations," Nabil Abu Rdainah, Abbas's spokesperson, said.
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