Member of the PLO Executive Committee Ahmed Majdalani criticized on Tuesday the American administration, saying it was not serious about resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
“The US administration has neither the desire nor the will to pressure the government of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, to implement the agreements reached at Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh,” he said.
Political and security officials from the Palestinian Authority (PA), Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the United States met at Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh in March and again in Aqaba, Jordan, in February to discuss the tensions between Palestinians and Israelis.
“We had hoped that the meetings would make the US and mediating parties to assume their responsibility to force Israel to cease its unilateral measures,” he told the Arab World News Agency.
Majdalani added: “This was the right time for Washington to put pressure on Netanyahu in light of his disagreement with the US administration over common issues. However, the US administration has not done so.”
The Palestinian official explained that currently, Washington has other priorities than the Middle East. He said the US administration is busy confronting China and Russia to preserve the unipolar world it leads. “The US does not see the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a threat to its interests and national security,” Majdalani remarked.
The official said Israel made a number of commitments at the Egypt and Jordan meetings, but it continues to shirk its obligations, even the economic ones.
At the Aqaba meeting, Israel committed to transfer millions of dollars in tax revenues it has withheld from the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority.
However, Majdalani said Israeli authorities failed to pay the amount accumulated in the past 10 years, estimated at 800 million shekels.
He stressed that the PA is serious about reviewing its relationship with Israel as an occupying power. “In wake of President (Palestinian Mahmoud) Abbas' recent speech at the United Nations, we are working on developing some practical steps to start a new plan of action,” Majdalani said.
