Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu is not a partner for peace unless he backs a Palestinian state, the Palestinian Authority's top negotiator has said.Saeb Erekat was speaking after US envoy George Mitchell met Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, a day after talks in Israel.
He said Mr Netanyahu's new demand that the Palestinians recognise Israel as a Jewish state was meant to stall talks.
Mr Netanyahu has not endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state.
Mr Erekat also urged the administration of US President Barack Obama to act as an "even-handed" broker.
Mr Mitchell is on his first visit to the region since Mr Netanyahu's right-leaning coalition took office.
After meetings with Palestinians on Friday and Israelis on Thursday, he reiterated his commitment to a two-state solution.
'No mention'
As he met Israeli leaders on Thursday, a senior official in Mr Netanyahu's office said the new prime minister had told Mr Mitchell: "Israel expects the Palestinians to first recognise Israel as a Jewish state before talking about two states for two peoples."
Under previous agreements, the Palestinians have recognised the right of the state of Israel to exist.
US envoy George Mitchell meets Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
President Obama's MidEast envoy (l) flew in to Israel on Wednesday
But correspondents say recognising it as a Jewish state would be tantamount to abandoning one of the Palestinians' key demands in final-status talks, the "right to return" of Palestinian refugees.
In a statement after Friday's meeting, Mr Erekat said the new Israeli condition "serves no other purpose than to stall progress towards negotiations".
"The PLO [Palestine Liberation Organisation] has already recognised the state of Israel. Netanyahu refuses to even mention a Palestinian state," he said.
"Until the Netanyahu government unequivocally affirms its support for the two-state solution, implements Israel's Road Map [2003 peace plan] obligations and abides by previous agreements, Palestinians have no partner for peace," Mr Erekat added.
Mr Mitchell said the 2002 Arab peace initiative - under which Arab states would normalise relations with Israel in exchange for full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza - should be the basis of peace talks.
"A two-state solution is the only solution," he said.
But during Thursday's meetings, far-right Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the long-standing approach to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had brought "neither results nor solutions" and new ideas were needed.
Source: BBC News
