Dr. Erekat responding to PM Netanyahu’s comments on Mitchell’s resignation: Peace requires decisions not a PR campaign

Responding to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s attempt to blame the Palestinian leadership for Ambassador Mitchell resignation, Dr. Saeb Erekat, member of the PLO Executive Committee and Chief Negotiator, said: “Anyone who was even slightly familiar with the process knows full well that Prime Minister Netanyahu never gave Ambassador Mitchell a chance. The Israelis would announce a new settlement project as Ambassador Mitchell’s plane would be landing in Tel-Aviv. He was completely undermined. Mr. Netanyahu’s statements would be amusing if the consequences of his actions weren’t so tragic.”

“The record is clear. During the Proximity Talks in the summer of 2010, we gave Ambassador Mitchell detailed position papers on all the core issues, including Jerusalem, refugees, security, water, prisoners, and territory. We explicitly told Ambassador Mitchell that he was free to pass them along to Mr. Netanyahu. I challenge Mr. Netanyahu to claim that he responded to these papers or that he put forward any proposals of his own.”

Dr. Erekat encourages all those who are interested to visit the Negotiation Affairs Department website at www.nad.ps to see for themselves the exact position papers that were presented to Ambassador Mitchell in the summer of 2010.

“We’ve been negotiating for years now and one thing is very clear: a lack of a settlement freeze and clear terms of reference has only led to a de-legitimization of the peace process. We cannot afford to go down this path any longer.”

“It is time for Mr. Netanyahu to understand that for a just and lasting peace to prevail we need decisions, not a PR campaign. The ball is in his court.”