Palestine Leaders say They are Ready to Talk
President Abbas says that they are ready to talk to any Israeli government that recognizes Palestine as a State. As you may know, last year the Palestinian Authority approached the United Nations and on November 29th, 2012 the UN accepted the “State of Palestine” as a state. Interesting that exactly 65 years to the date, (November 29, 1947) the UN approved Israel as a state. Since the date that Israel gained statehood, Palestinian Authority leaders have said they will not recognize Israel as a state. It is the very thing they claim has restricted negotiations. Now that they have become a state (which was originally offered to them by the UN in 1947), they say they are ready to talk to Israeli government if they recognize the Palestinian statehood.
A Palestinian official has said: “We do not think that peace is on the horizon.”
Spokesperson for President Abbas Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said: “What interests us in the next Israeli government, is for it to abide by the two-state solution, stop settlements and recognize the United Nations General Assembly November 29 resolution that talks about a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.”
I would assume that Israel would recognize Palestine as a state when they recognize Israel as a state. However, agreeing to 1967 borders would never happen and they were never "borders" in the first place. That would leave Israel too vulnerable, based on past relationships with the Palestinian Authority.
Peace remains elusive in the Middle East.