PA President Mahmoud Abbas told a delegation of Israeli academics that he is committed to achieving peace through a demilitarized state, and agreed that security would be maintained by police and not military.
Abbas’s statement came during a visit by a delegation of Israeli academics, at his office in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah, on Tuesday, according to Ma’an.
Abbas stressed: “I want a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, without an army. I want policemen with sticks, not weapons. Instead of airplanes and tanks, setting up schools and hospitals, as well as allocating budgets and resources to social institutions is a priority.”
He discussed the important role that Palestinian youth can play in peace-making, noting that the right of the future generations to live in peace and away from hatred, violence and occupation.
The meeting was organized by the Committee to Communicate with the Israeli Society, a department in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), headed by Muhammad Madani.
Additionally, Israeli Member of the Knesset Tzipi Livni, Leader of the Opposition, posted on her Twitter account confirming that Abbas did agree to a demilitarized state during negotiations.
(PNN archive image)
