Abbas reportedly ready to suspend settlement freeze demand to restart peace talks

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is willing to suspend his demand that Israel freeze West Bank settlement construction as a condition for restarting peace talks, a top adviser said.

Abbas is also willing to mute his campaign to single Israel out for condemnation at the United Nations and prosecute Israeli officials for war crimes, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

“We have not made the settlements an up-front issue this time,” Mohammad Mustafa, a senior economic adviser to Abbas and a former PA deputy prime minister, told Bloomberg in an interview Monday at his office in Ramallah. “We think it’s better for all of us right now to focus on giving this new administration a chance to deliver.”

http://www.jta.org/2017/06/08/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/abbas-reportedly-ready-to-suspend-settlement-freeze-demand-to-restart-talks