Haaretz: Abbas adopts a U.S. formula for the resumption of negotiations

Head of the Ramallah Authority Mahmoud Abbas signed the new American formula for the resumption of the negotiation process with the Israeli occupation, Hebrew press sources revealed.

Harvard jurist and well-known Israel advocate Professor Alan Dershowitz has secured Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s agreement to a settlement freeze formula that he hopes will break the diplomatic stalemate and lead to a resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Haaretz newspaper stated in its Thursday edition.

Haaretz reports on a meeting that took place on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly between Mahmoud Abbas and leaders of the American Jewish community. According to their report “Israel will stop all settlement building in the West Bank as soon as the Palestinian Authority sits down at the bargaining table, and the freeze will continue as long as the talks continue in good faith.”

Sources at the meeting also revealed that Abbas has assured U.S. President Obama’s Administration that he would not press for a General Assembly vote on the Palestinian request for non-state recognition before the upcoming November 6 presidential elections, which was confirmed by PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina.

Dershowitz told Haaretz that he came away from his discussion with Abbas convinced that “if Abbas and Bibi Netanyahu sit down and have serious talks, they will find their positions much closer than is widely believed.”

According to US media reports several Jewish leaders, including Malcolm Hoenlein, refused to attend the meeting following orders from Netanyahu’s office.