The Palestinian Authority (PA) is reiterating its call for an international boycott of Israel's new government, which it says poses "an existential threat to the Palestinian people."
"The State of Palestine rejects the annexationist, violent, racist, and incitement to ethnic cleansing policy guidelines of Israel's new government. The State of Palestine considers this agenda an existential threat to the Palestinian people and their inalienable and inviolable rights," the PA “foreign ministry” said in a statement released on Thursday and quoted by Middle East Monitor.
The PA urged the international community to "carry out its responsibilities and reject any dealings with a government committed to carrying out international crimes, including annexation, political persecution and racial discrimination."
It also pleaded for the international community, including the United Nations Security Council, to "ensure the protection of the Palestinian people from Israel's ongoing campaign of dispossession and displacement, colonization and annexation, ethnic cleansing and persecution."
Thursday’s statement followed the swearing in of the new government, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Three weeks ago, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas gave a speech in which he called on the international community not to deal with any Israeli government that does not recognize the principles of international legitimacy.
"These days, we miss a partner in Israel who believes in a two-state solution based on international legitimacy, signed agreements, and the renunciation of violence and terrorism. These are the principles that we are committed to and work according to," he said.
Previously, Abbas criticized Netanyahu, saying he would have to deal with Netanyahu even though he believed Netanyahu was not interested in making peace.
"I knew Netanyahu for a long time, since the 1990s ... He is a man who doesn't believe in peace but I have no other choice but to deal with him," Abbas said.
While Abbas claims that Netanyahu does not believe in peace, it is the PA chairman himself who has rejected multiple overtures from Israel over the years.
Abbas has repeatedly pushed for an international conference for peace in the Middle East, aimed at bypassing the US efforts to resume talks.
In September of 2020, the PA said it began preliminary diplomatic steps to hold an international conference, though nothing has yet materialized as a result of this effort.
Israeli-PA peace talks have been stalled since 2014, when the PA unilaterally applied to join international organizations in breach of the conditions of the talks.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)