Abbas rejects call to recognise Israel as Jewish state

PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday dismissed calls by the new right-leaning Israeli government to recognise Israel as a Jewish state, an issue emerging as a main obstacle to peacemaking.

“I do not accept it,” the West-backed Abbas said. “It is not my job to give a description of the state. Name yourself the Hebrew Socialist Republic — it is none of my business.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement last week it would be impossible to make progress on the diplomatic track and reach a peace agreement without Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.