JERUSALEM, September 5, 2011 (WAFA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he was ready to travel to Ramallah to meet President Mahmoud Abbas if that would restart negotiations and prevent the Palestinians from going to the United Nations.
He criticized the Palestinian quest to get UN recognition claiming it would lead to “a dead end.”
Ofir Gendelman, spokesman of the Israeli prime minister for the Arabic media, said Netanyahu called on Abbas to immediately start the negotiations.
He quoted Netanyahu as saying “the Palestinian president can come to Jerusalem, and I can travel to Ramallah, or we can go together to Brussels.”
Netanyahu’s statements came during a meeting with Belgium Prime Minister Yves Leterme at his home in Jerusalem.
He said that “since he was elected he was hoping to directly negotiate with the Palestinians, but that to his great sorrow the Palestinian leadership chose to abstain from the negotiations and preferred going to the UN. This will lead to a dead end.”
M.G./M.A.
