Israeli opposition leader and Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the peace agreement that might be achieved between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is no more than a cynical invalid deal, local newspaper Makor Rishon reported.
In an interview with the right wing affiliated newspaper, Netanyahu said that he would regard general elections as a referendum on the potential peace deal and "then the public would be the judge."
"If they (Olmert's Kadima party) win the election - fine. But if they don't, they can't force upon the public, in a cynical and manipulative manner, something the public is not interested in, "Netanyahu was quoted as saying.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met for the first time since Feb. 19.Abbas suspended the talks last month to protest a ground operation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip.
The two sides agreed during the meeting to continue talks and pledged to reach a comprehensive agreement by the end of 2008, a goal also set at a U.S.-hosted peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland last November when long-stalled negotiations between the two sides were revived.
As to the disputed question whether Jerusalem could be divided between Israel and the Palestinians, Netanyahu said told the paper that "I can say with certainty that I will not divide Jerusalem."
Source:Xinhua
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