No ‘Mickey Mouse’ state

PALESTINIANS will not be pushed into accepting the “Mickey Mouse” state which Israel has in mind for them as part of a peace deal, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad warned yesterday.

If such a state is what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu foresees, then the Middle East peace process will remain suspended, he said told a news conference. “By all indications they have a Mickey Mouse state in mind,” Fayyad said. “It looks like it would not come close to what we have in mind.”

Palestinians have not lost faith in the mediation of US President Barack Obama, the prime minister said in response to questions about reports that they are deeply disappointed. But Israel’s leaders “should be asked” a fundamental question about exactly what kind of state they are ready to agree to before Palestinians are pressed to relaunch talks, he stressed.