Israel strongly rules out talks with PA

Israel's foreign minister claims that the Palestinian Authority (PA)'s alleged unsuitability as a partner for talks rules out any prospect of negotiation with the Palestinians. Addressing Israeli officials in al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that the acting PA Chief Mahmoud Abbas was 'not a partner for anything.' “In the midst of an earthquake do you start to lay the foundations for a new building?” he said, blaming the PA for Tel Aviv's refusal to restart the negotiations between the two sides. In September 2010, Israel resumed settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories after a 10-month partial freeze, prompting the PA to break off direct talks with Tel Aviv. Moreover, Lieberman called “the failure of the Palestinian initiative at the UN Security Council” as a success Israel had achieved. The authority had on the 66th United Nations General Assembly in September, 2011 applied to be recognized by the UN as an independent member state. The 15-member Security Council, however, failed to reach consensus on the bid amid the US warning that it would use its veto power against the initiative.