Israeli president urges Palestinian leader not to give up peace efforts

TEl AVIV, Nov. 7 — Israeli President Shimon Peres on Saturday called upon Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas to reconsider his decision to retire from politics and to continue working for peace.

“We both signed the Oslo Accords, and I am turning to you now as a colleague: Don’t give up!” Peres said at the annual rally commemorating the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a highly-reputed contributor to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The appeal followed an abrupt announcement from Abbas on Thursday that he would not seek another presidential term in the upcoming elections scheduled for January, expressing a deep frustration with the failed attempts to revive the stalled peace talks with Israel.

“I know that you have worked for the sake of your people for 50years, work that was accompanied by many disappointments and frustrations,” said Peres. “But knowing my people and Israel’s government, I can tell you that Israel wants true peace, not make-believe. A close peace, not peace from a distance.”

Predicting that “the next year could be a turning point,” the political veteran, who as then foreign minister shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Rabin and late Palestinian Yasser Arafat thanks to their contribution to the signing of the historic Oslo Accords, added that “it stands to reason that your 51st year will bring independence to the Palestinian people and peace to the State of Israel.”

Meanwhile, Peres urged the Israeli public to support the two-state principle for solving the decades-old conflict and appealed to them that “don’t let go of the peace process, don’t leave it up to others and don’t be afraid of the price of peace.”

The largely ceremonial president’s remarks reflected the general stance of Israeli officials on Abbas’ decision to quit. While the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refrained from officially commenting on the matter and termed it as an internal Palestinian affair, local media have quoted many officials as saying that Israel is keen to see Abbas stay on.

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