Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – The Palestinian leadership is willing to discuss the establishment of a bi-national state with Israel, a report said Thursday. Ahmed Qorei, a member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Executive Committee and head of its Jerusalem Affairs Department, said in an interview with Israel's Radio to mark 19 years since the signing of the Oslo Accords that “the idea will replace the concept of two-state solution, if the Israelis have given up on it.” Qorei, also a former chief negotiator, added that the “Palestinian leadership supports the two-state solution but Israel sabotaged it by continuing to encourage Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories and the construction of the separation wall.” The PLO's official said he doesn't see any hope for the existing economic agreement with Israel, saying that the agreement puts Palestinians at a disadvantage. Since the signing of the Oslo Accords in September 1993 between the PLO and Israel, negotiators from both sides have been trying to achieve a lasting peace agreement based on the two-state solution. The Palestinians want their future state on land Israel has been occupying since June 1967. For its part, Israel rejects the bi-national state for fear it would lose its Jewish character. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly said that there is no basis to discuss the borders of Palestinian state without the Palestinian leadership recognizes Israel as a Jewish state. Palestinian leaders said that Israel's demand “will never happen and we will not carry out their goals and their dream of recognizing the Jewish state.” The US-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed after Israel refused to extend a 10- month moratorium over freezing settlement constructions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In response, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked the international body in September 2011 to recognize a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza with east Jerusalem as its capital. However, the PA failed to muster the nine votes needed in the 15-member Security Council to approve their bid for membership as a state, which they blame on US pressure on some members of the council. The US and Israel strongly oppose the bid. The US administration has said it wants the recognition of the Palestinian state to be a result of a negotiated agreement between the concerned parties. The Palestinians have said they will not return to negotiations without a new Israeli freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They also want Israel to accept the principle of the two-state solution based on 1967 borders and to release the release of 123 Palestinians who were arrested before the Oslo Accords in 1993.
