Palestine PM Mohammed Shtayyeh slams Israel's Bennett and his three 'no's'

Palestine PM Mohammed Shtayyeh slams Israel's Bennett and his three 'no's'
Palestinian Authority PM Mohammed Shtayyeh asserted Bennett's 'no's... demonstrate' his coalition's aims are 'only to promote settlement and confiscate more land'.
2 min read
21 September, 2021
Palestine's Mohammed Shtayyeh made his condemnatory comments on Monday [Getty]

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's rejection of dialogue with Ramallah was slammed by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Monday in Ramallah.

Shtayyeh said the Israeli leader's "no's - no contact with President [Mahmoud Abbas], no negotiations, and no Palestinian state - demonstrate that the new Israeli government seeks to continue illegal West Bank settlements, confiscate more Palestinian land, "and bulldoze the geographical base of the State of Palestine", according to Anadolu Agency.

This must be met with "a serious pause" by the Palestinian people and other nations, particularly those supporting the two-state model, Palestine's official Wafa news agency quoted Shtayyeh as saying.

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The Israeli leader's stance signifies the "continu[ation of] the systematic destruction of the possibility of establishing the state of Palestine," according to the Palestinian politician.

Prior to a key meeting with US President Joe Biden, Bennett said in August during a New York Times interview there would not be discussions on ending the decades-long Palestine-Israel conflict under his ruling coalition.

"This government will neither annex nor form a Palestinian state, everyone gets that," he also said.

Rejecting suggestions Bennett was removed from the list of attendees at a regional conference in Egypt, his spokesperson Matan Sidi explained earlier this month that the Yamina leader was not set for an audience with President Abbas.

"There was no intention to hold a meeting [with] the PA President and there is no expectation that any such meeting will be held," Sidi said.

Two weeks later, Bennett's interior minister, Ayelet Shaked, addressed a counter-terror policy conference.

She said: "The prime minister [Bennett] won't meet with him [Abbas] and doesn't intend to meet with him."

Israel said this was due to the Palestinian Authority saying Israel is guilty of war crimes and its petition for a trial at the International Criminal Court, as well as continued payments to the families of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, Shaked said.