Abu Rudeineh calls on new Israeli gov to make peace, not war

Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh Tuesday called on the Israeli government to “grasp the opportunity” of the new government coalition to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinian people and leadership. Abu Rudeineh was reacting to the expansion of the Israeli government as the opposition centrist party, Kadima, has agreed to join the government coalition under Likud leadership. “This is the right time for the Israeli government to reach peace with the Palestinian people by immediately halting all settlement activities across the Palestinian Territory and upholding the peace process obligations, leading up to the two-state solution and the establishment of the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Abu Rudeineh told WAFA. He added that “the new Israeli government coalition should be a coalition for peace, not a coalition for war, because it is the only way to face the great dangers looming in the area due to the stalled peace process and to end the tension and bloody conflicts, as well as to pave the way to achieve security and stability in the region.” Abu Rudeineh said that “a peace agreement with the Palestinian leadership and people should be based on international resolutions and terms of references to achieve a comprehensive and just peace to guarantee the security and stability, as well as to eliminate the fears of destructive wars threatening the region.”