Bahar: Abbas’s invitation to Netanyahu to address PLC unacceptable

Ahmed Bahar, first deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), denounced the invitation by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver a speech at the PLC.

Bahar said in a press statement: “Abbas’s invitation to Netanyahu is nationally, legally and morally unacceptable, and constitutes a violation of the status of the Palestinian national consensus that rejects political positions that detract from our rights and our national constants, provokes the feelings of our people … and ignores the crimes and Judaization and settlement schemes that aim to liquidate our cause.”

Bahar expressed his surprise at inviting Netanyahu to the PLC, while the head of the Legislative Council Aziz Dweik and other deputies are prevented from entering the council’s headquarters in Ramallah.

He pointed out that Abbas does not have the legal and constitutional authority to invite Netanyahu to the Legislative Council, according to the Palestinian Basic Law.

Bahar called on Abbas to apologize to the Palestinian people for his remarks that harm the efforts to achieve national reconciliation, not to waiver the rights and national constants, and to take bold decisions and courageous positions to achieve reconciliation and end the division.