The president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has said that the idea of an independent Palestinian state would be dead as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has won legislative election.
"Netanyahu's statements against a two-state solution and against a Palestinian state... are proof, if correct, that there is no seriousness in the (future) Israeli government about a political solution,” Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday.
Netanyahu’s ruling right-wing Likud party won 30 of the 120 parliament seats, while the opposition Zionist Union gained 24. The official results are expected to be published on March 25.
PA officials had said earlier that they favor an Israeli cabinet that could support the establishment of a Palestinian state, a move which has so far been hampered by Israel and the United States despite growing international recognition.
Abbas's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said Wednesday that PA would cooperate with any Israeli cabinet that recognizes “legitimate international resolutions,” otherwise, he said, there would be no chance for the resumption of the stalled peace process.
Netanyahu has been also on a serious collusion course with the US president Barack Obama with one of the major points of disagreement being the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The White House on Wednesday announced that it might no longer use its veto right in the United Nations Security Council in favor of Israel against the creation of the Palestinian state, showing a dramatic shift in the US treatment of the issue in decades.
MS/KA/SS