Palestine will not recognise Jewish state: President Abbas

Ramallah: The president of the Palestinian national unity government says Palestinians cannot and will not recognize Israel as a "Jewish state".

Palestinians "cannot recognise a Jewish state", Press TV Monday quoted Mahmud Abbas as saying in an interview with the Egyptian daily Akhbar Al-Yawm.

"We will stand against this enterprise, not out of obstinacy, but because it contradicts our interests,” he said.

He said there were six million “Palestinian refugees”, including himself, who have become homeless since the beginning of the Israeli occupation in 1948.

The recognition of a Jewish state contradicted the Palestinians’ interests by “preventing the return of the Palestinian refugees” to their lands, Abbas added.

Abbas said in the interview that Israelis are difficult partner to negotiate with because they are not interested in "peace".

"Working with Israel is very difficult, if not impossible. We are conducting mutual relations with people who don't believe in peace. You ask for peace, and they do not want it,” he said.

The president of the Palestinian national unity government also reiterated the Palestinians’ call for an independent state based on the pre-1967 boundaries and an end to the Israeli occupation.

"We want a state in the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, and we want to set a date to end the occupation. That is all we want. If Israel agrees to this now, we will go to negotiations. But they use deception and excel at media fraud,” Abbas said.

In 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem Al-Quds, and the Gaza Strip.

However, Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. May 17, 2014, almost all countries in the UN voted in favour of Resolution 58/292 stipulating that the borders of a Palestinian state should be based on the pre-1967 borders.

"If we cannot get what we want, there are other steps we can take. The first step is joining many international organisations, such as the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice,” Abbas said. "There are 520 international organisations, and joining them will surely bother everyone."

"If there is an appeal to the ICC, and a Palestinian files a lawsuit against an Israeli, then the Israelis get scared, because they are wanted and cannot travel," he added.