Abbas Criticizes Peace Deals, Calls for U.N. to Resolve Israel-Palestinian Conflict

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas criticized the recent peace deals between Israel and Arab Nations in a Sept. 25 speech to the United Nations, where he also called for the U.N. to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The Times of Israel (TOI) and Jerusalem Post reported that Abbas’ speech, which was pre-recorded, called the peace deals a “violation of the Arab Peace Initiative,” arguing that normalization of ties with Israel won’t lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“The PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization] does not mandate anyone to negotiate or speak in our place,” he said. “The only way to a comprehensive and just peace is the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.”

In 1967 during the Six-Day war against Egypt, Syria and Jordan, Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula.

Abbas also said that peace in the Middle East can be achieved only by a two-state solution that adheres to international law and U.N. resolutions, including the end of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and with two states based on 1967 borders.

“Until when will the Palestinian people remain under Israeli occupation and will the question of millions of Palestine refugees remain without a just solution in accordance with what the United Nations has determined over 70 years ago?” he said. “We will not kneel or surrender and we will not deviate from our fundamental positions, and we shall overcome.”

TOI noted that Abbas’ comments on the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, announced August, and Israel and Bahrain, announced September, were far more restrained than his past remarks, which included him calling the agreements a “poisoned dagger.”

Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa stood by his country’s normalization agreement with Israel during the U.N. session, saying that the agreement serves as “a cornerstone for achieving a just and comprehensive peace leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the resolutions of international law and the Arab Peace Initiative.”

On Sept. 24, The Jerusalem Post reported that funding to the PA from Arab nations declined 85% from 2019 to 2020. PA Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki said in a press conference that day that the decline was the result of Arab nations failing to adhere to “the decisions of the Arab summits to provide a financial safety net of $100 million for Palestine in the face of US and Israeli sanctions. We do not know if this was the result of the financial repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, or at the request of the United States, as President (Donald) Trump said.”