A senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official absolutely rejected a proposal reported last week that Israel lease lands in the PA state to be created as a way of getting talks between the two sides moving again. Interviewed by the Saudi newspaper Okhan, the official noted that the PA would not agree to any proposal outside the framework of the Saudi plan or the American Roadmap for Peace adopted by the Quartet of Middle East peace broker nations.
The lease precedent was established in the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan in 1994. Lands in the Arava and Naharayim areas are being leased for dozens of years to solve security and economic problems.