Erekat lashes out at Israel, U.S.

Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat Tuesday condemned Israel and the United States while briefing 90 Palestinian envoys in Istanbul, Turkey. Erekat warned if the U.S. continues its efforts to stymie efforts to gain international statehood recognition of a Palestinain state, the Palestinian Authority should be dismantled, Haaretz said. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas should throw the keys in their faces, Erekat declared. The Palestinian Authority strives for independence and if it cannot achieve that it should no longer exist, the newspaper said quoting statements attributed to Erekat published in the newspaper al-Ayam. "If the U.S. wants the Palestinian Authority to continue to exist then the price is the establishment of a Palestinian state in keeping with the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital," Erekat said. He also told the envoys the entire peace process with Israel should be reevaluated. Monday, the newspaper reported that the National Security Council in Israel had been tasked with examining Israel's response in the event the United Nations recognizes a Palestinian state in September. One of the issues being examined is annulling the Oslo Accords, the report said.