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Abbas speaking in New York
Photo: Julia Nikhinson/AP
In the eyes of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel is responsible for the fact that peace talks in the Middle East conflict are not currently being resumed.
"Israel undermined the Oslo Accords and willfully and deliberately destroyed the two-state solution through its policies, and is still doing so," Abbas told the UN General Assembly in New York.
This proves that Israel does not believe in peace.
"That's why we no longer have an Israeli partner to talk to."
A day earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Jair Lapid spoke at the UN in favor of establishing an independent Palestinian state.
However, the condition for this is that such a state must be peaceful, he stressed.
A majority of Israelis support a two-state solution, Lapid said.
However, a future Palestinian state "must not become another terrorist base."
"Stop shooting rockets at our children," he said.
Even before Lapid's speech, criticism of the idea had been voiced in Israel, both from the opposition and from the right wing of his coalition.
On November 1, Israel will elect a new parliament.
The right-wing opposition leader and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is aiming for a comeback.
»A positive development«
Abbas said he had listened to Lapid and that it was "a positive development".
The real test for the Israeli government, however, is getting back to the negotiating table.
"We are fed up with words and resolutions," said Abbas.
Negotiations could begin tomorrow.
The prerequisite for this, however, is that Israel end all unilateral measures “that undermine the two-state solution”.
This includes the construction of settlements.
Israel and the Palestinians signed the Oslo Peace Treaty in 1993.
The Palestinians had hoped for an independent state in the long term.
However, negotiations on a permanent peace settlement have been idle since 2014.
Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War.
The Palestinians are demanding the territories for their own state - with East Jerusalem as the capital.
The Islamist Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.
kko/dpa
