In a curious announcement by the minister for foreign affairs of the Palestinian Authority, Riyad Malki, made at a press conference in Tokyo on February 15, 2016, while accompanying his boss Mahmoud Abbas on a visit to Japan, Malki stated (as reported in The Times of Israel): “We will never go back and sit again in a direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.”

Many would brush aside such a statement as another example of routine Palestinian bravado and propaganda at a time when the world is somewhat fatigued with the endless Palestinian attempts to keep their plight at the forefront of world attention.

This is perhaps all the more evident when, at the same time, the Palestinian leadership adamantly refuses to return to the negotiating table, preferring instead to engage in endless efforts to bypass the negotiation process, whether in the United Nations or through other international organizations.

Additionally, the Palestinian leadership continues to openly and even proudly sponsor and encourage an international BDS campaign (boycott, divestment and sanctions) against Israel in commercial and cultural fields, and engages in open, daily incitement which leads to violence and murder of Jews and Israelis.

All this in clear and direct contravention of Palestinian commitments – whether to Israel or to the international community – in the various agreements signed over the past 20 years.

Read the article in full at the Jerusalem Post.