Netanyahu to Abbas: 'Let us begin talks immediately'

[Fozzledick]

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declared that he wanted to immediately resume negotiations with the Palestinians Monday and rejected the charge that he wasn't interested in reaching an agreement.

"We need to move toward peace with a sense of urgency and a sense of purpose," Netanyahu told the Jewish Federations of North America's General Assembly during a trip to Washington. "My goal is not negotiations for the sake of negotiations; My goal is to achieve a permanent peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians, and soon. I cannot be more emphatic on this point."

Critics of Netanyahu, particularly in the Arab world, have accused the prime minister of not being sincere in his desire to reach a peace agreement which would include Israeli concessions.

Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed that he's willing to start talking, and the Israelis have been pointing to the Palestinians as setting the precondition of a total settlement freeze as holding up progress.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1257770023064&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Meanwhile, Abbas is threatening to hold his breath until he turns blue...

[azurnoir]

1. Meaningless political posturing on Bibi's part

yes let's talk peace I'll only take brief breaks to see how construction in EJ and the settlements is going I promise

[hatrack]

2. And Abbas isn't running again, as was recently announced . .

Which makes this newsworthy . . . why?