Palestinian President 'Will Never' Acknowledge Israel As Jewish State... But Recognizes 57 Islamic States

by Jordan Schachtel 

Mahmoud Abbas, the so-called "moderate" President of the Palestinian Authority, said on Saturday that his people will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

Abbas, who spoke at an Arab League meeting in Cairo, said that Israel’s Jewish identity will never be legitimate in the eyes of Palestinian leaders. His Palestinian Authority would also drop ongoing security cooperation with Israel should peace talks not find a resolution soon, he threatened.

“We will never recognize the Jewishness of the state of Israel,” Abbas proclaimed.

Abbas did not however take issue with the 57 Islamic states that surround Israel--just the one that wanted to be acknowledged as having a Jewish identity.

The Palestinian President laid out his prerequisites should Israel want his delegation simply back at the negotiating table. “Return to negotiations is possible if Israel agrees to a full freeze of settlement [construction], including Jerusalem, release of the fourth group of long-term prisoners, and setting a timetable for negotiations which will begin with setting borders,” demanded Abbas.

“It’s impossible for us to wait any longer, because Israel continues its aggression and expropriation of lands and setting facts on the ground by continuing to build settlements,” said the Palestinian President. “The government of Israel doesn’t want, for internal reasons, to define its borders and we can’t continue with this situation,” he alleged.

Israel’s Channel 10 News reported that Abbas is seeking the help of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in drafting a UN resolution that pressures Israel to agree to the Palestinians’ demands.

While recognized by the mainstream media as a "moderate"and a "peacemaker," the Palestinian President’s past his rife with allegations of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. For his Ph.D dissertation, Abbas focused on the “relationship between Jewish leaders and Nazism before WWII.” In October, he referred to Jews visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as a “herd of cattle.