Gilad Erdan
Gilad ErdanShahar Azran

Israel’s Ambassador to the US and UN, Gilad Erdan, responded on Friday to Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at the UN General Assembly.

In the speech, Abbas issued an ultimatum to Israel and threatened to take back the PA’s recognition of Israel if it does not withdraw from Judea, Samaria, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem within a year.

"In his speech at the UN, Abu Mazen proved once again that he is no longer relevant. It is no coincidence that 80% of Palestinians want him to leave his position. He once offered to sue the United Kingdom over the Balfour Declaration. Today, he wants to return to the UN Partition Plan,” said Erdan.

The Ambassador added, “But most important of all, he lied about the Palestinians refusal to make peace. Those who truly support peace and negotiations do not threaten delusional ultimatums from the UN platform as he did in his speech."

Abbas in his speech accused Israel of “destroying the two-state solution” and urged the international community to act to save the two-state formula.

"If the Israeli occupation authorities continue to entrench the reality of one apartheid state as is happening today, our Palestinian people and the entire world will not tolerate such a situation," Abbas declared.

Abbas has repeatedly pushed for an international conference for peace in the Middle East, a move aimed at bypassing the US efforts to resume talks.

Past efforts under the Obama administration to broker a peace agreement failed in 2014 when the PA unilaterally applied to join international organizations in breach of the conditions of the talks.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)