Mahmoud Abbas: Jerusalem is not for sale; Netanyahu: Abbas supports terrorism

Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, stated in a speech at the United Nations on Thursday, October 5, that Palestinians "believe in peace and the aspiration to establish an independent Palestinian state"; however, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, labeled Abbas's government as a supporter of terrorism and referred to him as a Holocaust denier. According to the text of the leaders' speeches at the UN, Mahmoud Abbas said in his address at the 73rd UN General Assembly that the Palestinian nation has been "under Israeli occupation for 51 years; the occupation still exists and prevents us from establishing the necessary institutions for our country, while the General Assembly has supported the establishment of Palestine." The President of the Palestinian Authority also criticized the newly passed law known as the Nation-State Law in the Israeli parliament, stating: "This law nullifies the two-state solution and violates the rights of 20% of the Arabs residing in Israel, and even 56 members (out of 120) of the Israeli parliament have deemed it racist." Mahmoud Abbas questioned the Israeli government about the term "Land of Israel" used in the law, asking: "Where is the Land of Israel? What are the borders of Israel; which of you countries in the world have recognized these borders? I give Israel a map to show its borders; but they do not show it." Abbas, who has suspended the Palestinian Liberation Organization's relations with the U.S. in protest against the transfer of the U.S. embassy, stated that "Jerusalem (Al-Quds) is not for sale; the rights of the Palestinian people are not negotiable," but added that if the U.S. respects agreements with the Palestinians, they will reciprocate. Nevertheless, the leader of the Palestinian Authority did not explicitly mention the possibility of Palestinians returning to the negotiating table with Israel. This comes as Donald Trump, the U.S. President, expressed "confidence" just a day earlier that Palestinians would resume peace talks with Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke shortly after Abbas at the UN General Assembly, expressed anger at the Palestinian leader's remarks, claiming that Abbas wrote his doctoral thesis on Holocaust denial and referred to Israel as an apartheid state while his government provides stipends to terrorists who kill Israelis, stating that if an Israeli buys land in Palestinian territories, the Palestinian seller would be executed. Netanyahu praised the U.S. for recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and transferring the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, defending the Nation-State Law as a historical right of the Jews. However, the Israeli Prime Minister also did not refer to the plan that Donald Trump mentioned would soon be presented by his administration for achieving "the deal of the century" between Israel and the Palestinians. Trump announced on Wednesday during a meeting with Netanyahu and in a press conference that the peace plan prepared by his senior advisor Jared Kushner after a long review of the Middle East conflict is "balanced" and "fair" and will be presented in the next four months. Trump also expressed his clearest position to date regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state, stating that he supports either a two-state or one-state solution, but prefers the two-state solution as it is more likely to be realized. He also mentioned that in peace negotiations, "Israel must do good things." Although he did not elaborate, he had previously stated that Israel should be prepared to make significant concessions in negotiations with the Palestinians in exchange for the historic U.S. action of moving the embassy to Jerusalem; a statement that Netanyahu has remained silent about until now. Meanwhile, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the President of Egypt, who met with Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, urged Israel to return to the peace process with the Palestinians and stated that Egypt is mediating with the Palestinians to bring them back to the path of peace. King Abdullah II of Jordan also emphasized the need to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in his speech at the General Assembly. The last round of real peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians took place a decade ago; several subsequent meetings of leaders during the previous U.S. administration were fruitless. Violence in recent months between Palestinians and Israelis has resulted in about 170 deaths and nearly 20,000 injuries. This violence has recently resumed at the Gaza-Israel borders after a period of relative calm, resulting in more casualties.