Israel-Palestine: Still No Agreement to Discuss "Core Issues"

After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Palestinian Authority of "evading negotiations with Israel", the Authority's leader West Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that Israel and the Palestinians could reach a deal within two months, as long as Netanyahu was willing to take a new approach in the peace process.

Netanyahus response brought nothing new to the table:

I am prepared to immediately sit privately for direct, continuous negotiations with Abu Mazen [Abbas] until white smoke emerges. If Abu Mazen will agree to my suggestion to directly discuss all the core issues, we will know very quickly if it is possible to reach an agreement.

Who is refusing to discuss these "core issues"? It is Netanyahu who has hinted that only an "interim agreement" is possible if the Palestinians insist on their positions on Jerusalem and refugees. 

Meanwhile, a resolution prepared by the Palestinian Authority is to be submitted to the UN Security Council, seeking the declaration of Israeli settlements (including those in East Jerusalem) as illegal and a demand for a full freeze in construction. Last week, the chief Palestinian negotiator Saed Erekat had denied plans to request that the UN Security Council unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state along 1967 borders.