PA official: Netanyahu ‘Wasting Time’ with Jewish State Demand

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesperson said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “wasting time” with his demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state and was undermining the current peace negotiations.

“The intention of Netanyahu’s continued demand to recognize Israel as the Jewish state is to waste time and avoid reaching a true, just and viable peace agreement,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Abbas’ spokesperson, according to reports.

In a speech at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Tuesday, Netanyahu emphasized his oft-repeated demand that the Palestinian Authority recognize Israel as a Jewish state in any Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

“President Abbas, recognize the Jewish state, and in doing so, you would be telling your people, the Palestinians, that while we might have a territorial dispute, the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own is beyond dispute,” Netanyahu said in the speech. “No excuses, no delays, it’s time.”