Abbas Threatens To Hand Over The West Bank To Israel

Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said he will hand over responsibilty for the West Bank to Israel if peace talks are not renewed after Israel’s elections, Haaretz newspaper reported on Thursday.

In an interview with the Israeli newspaper, Abbas said he would relinquish control and disband the Palestinian authority if there was no progress after January 22.

“I’ll tell him [Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu]… Sit in the chair here instead of me, take the keys, and you will be responsible for the Palestinian Authority.”

“Once the new government in Israel is in place, Netanyahu will have to decide – yes or no,” Abbas said.

The Palestinian negotiating team has refused to return to the peace talks until Israel agrees on a settlement freeze. However, Israel has insisted on no preconditions to the talks.

Negotiations have been put on hold since September 2010.