The Palestinian Minister of Information Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi said on Saturday that there is no partner for peace in Israel. Barghouthi’s comments come one day prior to the meeting that will join the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud OlmertThe Palestinian Minister of Information Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi said on Saturday that there is no partner for peace in Israel.
Barghouthi’s comments come one day prior to the meeting that will join the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Barghouthi slammed the Israeli attitude towards talks with Palestinians specifically the Israeli intention to discuss Palestinian internal affairs.
“They want to discuss our judicial system, our legislations and laws, instead of discussing settlements, prisoners, home demolition, water and other concerns,” said Barghouthi, slamming the Israeli policy of undermining the Palestinian Authority by not allowing it to have sovereignty on the people and land it is established on.
Barghouthi attributed the Israeli refusal to discuss sensitive political issues with the Palestinians to weakness of Olmert and his government, saying that this government is unable to take serious decisions.
He said that the current Israeli leadership rejects all Arab and Palestinian peace proposals, which clearly indicates that there is no real partner for peace in Israel.
On the other hand, Minister Barghouthi said that the Palestinian Government approved a security plan presented by the Minister of Interior. The plan aims at upgrading security in the Palestinian areas which is still suffering remnants of factional infighting between Fatah and Hamas especially in the Gaza Strip, in addition to the increase in robbery cases in various Palestinian areas.
He also confirmed that the Palestinian Authority is doing its best to release the BBC reporter, believed to be captive in Gaza Strip since March 12. In addition, the government decided to instruct the different PA officials to stop making statements regarding the expected prisoners swap deal with Israel in order not negatively to affect the deal.
