In stating he won't recognize Israel as a Jewish state, he is implying it should someday be otherwise. In a recent radio broadcast, Israeli citizens spoke about the Annapolis 'dealing' and simply stated; "We have been here before, you just can't trust the Arab nations."
They mean that. They recognize the reality of the removal of a Jewish province in the Middle East and Mr. Abbas is doing no one, including his other Arab alliance members, a favor by being an obstructionist to the truth. Israel is a Jewish state and always will be. It's time the Middle East live with that truth.
Abbas won't recognize Jewish state
Published: 12/02/2007
Mahmoud Abbas reiterated the Palestinian Authority's refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
“The Palestinians do not accept the formula that the State of Israel is a Jewish state. We say that Israel exists, and in Israel there are Jews and there are those who are not Jews,” the Palestinian Authority president said Saturday after visiting Cairo en route home from the Annapolis peace conference.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that coexistence with a future Palestinian state will only be possible if it acknowledges Israel as the Jewish homeland. This demand, though endorsed by President Bush at last week's talks in Annapolis, has been roundly rejected by Palestinian and other Arab leaders, raising hackles in Israel.
Abbas said the Palestinian Authority will set about implementing its obligations, under the 2003 peace "road map," of cracking down on terrorist groups. But he said Israel must reciprocate.
“We will meet the demands that have been presented to us, and it is incumbent upon the Israelis to meet their obligations, particularly with respect to ending settlement activity, removing settler outposts and restoring the Palestinian institutions to east Jerusalem,” he said.
U.S. ultra-Orthodox group breaks mold by taking stance on peace process (click here)
By Anthony Weiss, The Forward
An ultra-Orthodox umbrella organization spoke out at its annual conference last week against the division of Jerusalem, marking the first time that the traditionally non-Zionist body has taken a public stance on the peace process.
Agudath Israel of America has traditionally steered clear of matters involving Israeli sovereignty, on the grounds that a true Jewish homeland can be established only by the coming of the messiah. At its national convention last week, however, Agudath Israel passed a resolution stating that Israel should not surrender any part of Jerusalem to Palestinian sovereignty and that America's government should not pressure it into doing so.
The conference came a few days before the Annapolis peace talks on November 27. Shortly before the talks, an Agudath Israel official met with high-ranking members of the Bush administration to press the case.
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Rabbi David Zwiebel, Agudath Israel's executive vice president of government and public affairs, acknowledged that it is unusual for Agudath Israel to speak out on matters relating to the peace process. But he explained, "The issue of Jerusalem is one that is sui generis: It stands on its own. It is the heart of Eretz Yisrael."
Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel, told the Forward that the resolution passed by acclaim with no objections. The unanimity suggests that the issue of Jerusalem may pull groups into the debate over the peace process that have traditionally steered clear of these matters.
The stance also could be an important signal of the political tides in Israel. Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, the head of Agudath Israel of America, told the convention that he had consulted with the leading Agudath Israel rabbis in Israel and they had urged him to speak out on the matter.
