Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he speaks during a meeting of the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009. Abbas said during the meeting he would resume peace talks with Israel only if it freezes all construction in Jewish settlements and agrees to recognize all areas captured in the 1967 Mideast war as the basis for a Palestinian state.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, second right, gestures as he addresses a meeting of the Central Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009. Banner reads in Arabic: "Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Palestinian National Council."
The Palestine Liberation Organization indefinitely extended Mahmoud Abbas' term as Palestinian president on Wednesday and endorsed his refusal to negotiate with Israel unless it freezes all settlement construction.
The decision, which was expected, nonetheless gave an important vote of confidence to the embattled president. Abbas' inability to reconcile with the rival Hamas movement or wrest concessions from Israel has hurt his popularity among many Palestinians.
The Western-backed Abbas has repeatedly threatened to step down in frustration over the impasse with Israel, while simultaneously hinting that he could be persuaded to remain in office. Wednesday's vote by the PLO's Central Council gives Abbas more time to work out his problems.
He did say, though, in an interview published Wednesday, that Israel and the Palestinians could reach a comprehensive peace deal within six months if Israel completely froze settlement construction.
The vote endorsed Abbas' earlier decision to call off presidential and parliamentary elections, which had been set for January. Abbas says it is impossible to hold the election due to Hamas' refusal to allow voting in its Gaza Strip stronghold.
The extension, which also applies to parliament members, ensures that Abbas' government continue to function until elections can be held in "the entire homeland," said Central Council member Saleh Rafat. It did not set a date for a new vote.
The Palestinians have been divided between two governments since Hamas militants wrested control of Gaza from Abbas' forces in June 2007. Abbas now governs only the West Bank.
Multiple attempts to reconcile the two groups have failed, and Hamas has signaled that it will not agree to new elections until an agreement with Fatah is reached.
In Gaza, Hamas criticized Wednesday's PLO vote as "a confiscation of democracy."
"The Central Council is not elected and illegal, and all of its decisions are illegal and not binding on our people," said spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.
The Central Council also endorsed Abbas' refusal to return to negotiations with Israel until it stops construction of Jewish settlements on lands the Palestinians want for a future state, as laid out in the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan.
Peace talks broke down a year ago and have not resumed since Benjamin Netanyahu became prime minister of Israel in March.
Abbas told the Israeli daily Haaretz that he proposed the six-month freeze to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in a pair of a recent telephone conversations.
"I suggested to him (Barak) three weeks ago that Israel freeze all construction in the settlements for six months, including east Jerusalem," Abbas told the Israeli daily Haaretz. "During this time we can get back to the table and even complete talks on a final status agreement. I have yet to receive an answer."
Barak's office refused to respond to Abbas' comments. But a spokesman for Netanyahu said the Palestinians should "stop making excuses."
Netanyahu has announced a 10-month moratorium on all new construction projects in the West Bank. But Palestinians have rejected the move as insufficient, since some building continues and the limitations do not apply to east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as their future capital.
Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and today, nearly 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the two areas.
Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev said it was time for Abbas to return to talks, rather than dictate preconditions.
"We have just seen the Palestinian leadership place more and more obstacles in restarting the talks," he said. "I call upon the Palestinian side to stop making excuses and return to talks."
The impasse over resuming peace talks comes at a time when Abbas' political standing at home is steadily eroding. His term as president was due to end in January, five years after he was elected, and his standoff with Hamas is intensifying.
Abbas has said he would not run for elections again due to frustration with the peace process, a position repeated in the Haaretz interview.
"If I can't reach my goals, I see no reason to hold on to my chair," he said.
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Peace possible with full settlement freeze: Abbas
Israel and the Palestinians could clinch a peace deal within six months if the Jewish state halted all settlement growth, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said in an interview published on Wednesday.
"I spoke with Defence Minister Ehud Barak twice over recent weeks," Abbas told Israel's left-leaning Haaretz daily.
"I suggested to him three weeks ago that Israel freeze all settlement construction for six months, including in east Jerusalem, without declaring it, just carrying it out in practice.
"During this time, we can return to the negotiating table and perhaps even achieve a final-status agreement. I have yet to receive an answer," the moderate Western-backed president said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month announced a 10-month construction freeze in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank in the hope it would help kick-start peace talks suspended nearly a year ago.
But the Palestinians have rejected the move, saying it fell far short of their demand for a complete halt of settlement activity in the whole West Bank, including annexed east Jerusalem.
Netanyahu's moratorium does not include east Jerusalem or the 3,000 homes already under construction in the West Bank, or public buildings.
In the interview, Abbas once again accused Israel of violating the 2003 roadmap agreement adopted by the international community, which calls on the Jewish state to freeze settlements.
"The roadmap makes demands of all parties. We were required to stop terror attacks, recognise Israel and even stop incitement. So come and see what we did," Abbas said.
"They said there is a problem with incitement in speeches in mosques during Friday prayers. Today there is no more incitement at any mosque... The security situation in the West Bank is excellent."
The most recent round of peace talks between the two sides was suspended nearly a year ago at the start of Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli police officer beaten, injured by settlersAngry settlers beat and seriously injured a female Israeli police officer Tuesday, police said, as she tried to enforce a government ban on new housing construction in Jewish West Bank settlements.
It was the most serious clash between settlers and authorities since the building restrictions were imposed last month. Settlers have vowed to defy the orders and have confronted government inspectors, scuffling with them.
Tuesday's incident went beyond the usual pushing and shoving.
Police spokesman Gil Elhadad said about 100 settlers, most of them teenagers, burned tires and blocked the entrance to the settlement of Tsofit, in the northern part of the West Bank near the line with Israel. He said some of them jumped the police officer and beat her, breaking several ribs. She was taken to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries, he said. He did not give her name or age.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the 10-month moratorium on construction of new housing in the West Bank as a gesture to the Palestinians, hoping they would resume peace negotiations.
However, Palestinian leaders rejected the move because it did not include east Jerusalem and allowed completion of about 3,000 housing units already under construction as well as putting up new public buildings, like schools and synagogues, in the settlements.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the PLO central council that Palestinians would not participate in peace negotiations until Israel fully freezes Israeli settlement building and agrees to recognize all areas captured in the 1967 Mideast war as the basis for a Palestinian state, referring to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.
"If there is a total freeze of settlement activity and recognition of 1967 borders, yes, we will go to negotiations," Abbas said.
Israel's position is that issues like settlements and borders should be discussed in negotiations, not as preconditions.
Also Tuesday, a Palestinian human rights group listed 116 Hamas activists who were arrested in the West Bank this week by the government dominated by the rival Fatah movement.
Jaber Wishah of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said the Hamas members were detained in an attempt to pre-empt celebrations of Hamas' 22nd anniversary, marked on Monday with a huge rally in Gaza City.
Palestinian Authority police spokesman Adnan Damiri said the Hamas members were only summoned and warned that Hamas celebrations were "illegal."
The West Bank and Gaza have been ruled by rival governments since Hamas expelled forces loyal to Abbas from Gaza in 2007.
While both Hamas and Fatah frequently detain and abuse each other's members, rarely have so many people been arrested at once.
A Hamas official in the West Bank, who requested anonymity fearing arrest, said some detainees were released Tuesday, but he did not know how many.
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