PLO official: If US transfers embassy, PLO will revoke all agreements and ties with Israel
Official PA TV News, telephone interview with Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee and Fatah Central Committee member Saeb Erekat
Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee and Fatah Central Committee member Saeb Erekat: "Transferring the embassy means only one thing: recognition of Israel's decision to annex occupied East Jerusalem. By doing this, the US is saying that the topic of Jerusalem has been resolved, and that Jerusalem - western and eastern – is the capital of the State of Israel. Therefore, the PLO's recognition of Israel cannot continue. The PLO cannot recognize Jerusalem, including East Jerusalem, as the capital of Israel. It is impossible. Therefore, the first step will be revoking the recognition [of Israel]. The second step will of course be revoking the signed agreements, and the decision of the [PLO] Central Council to break off the security and political ties and the negotiations with Israel will be implemented. We will request that Israel be suspended from its membership in the UN General Assembly. We will increase our efforts to receive a judicial ruling from the International Criminal Court to investigate senior Israeli officials regarding the settlements and the aggression against Gaza and the prisoners, in addition to other steps entailed by the transition from the stage of an authority to the stage of a state. In other words, we will have a government that is the PLO Executive Committee, and a Palestinian parliament that is the parliament of the State of Palestine, and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas] will also be the president of the State of Palestine, in addition to other steps, such as a call for an Arab and Islamic summit, a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement , and taking the appropriate steps in the Arab and Islamic world against this aggressive position."
Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee and Fatah Central Committee member Saeb Erekat: "Transferring the embassy means only one thing: recognition of Israel's decision to annex occupied East Jerusalem. By doing this, the US is saying that the topic of Jerusalem has been resolved, and that Jerusalem - western and eastern – is the capital of the State of Israel. Therefore, the PLO's recognition of Israel cannot continue. The PLO cannot recognize Jerusalem, including East Jerusalem, as the capital of Israel. It is impossible. Therefore, the first step will be revoking the recognition [of Israel]. The second step will of course be revoking the signed agreements, and the decision of the [PLO] Central Council to break off the security and political ties and the negotiations with Israel will be implemented. We will request that Israel be suspended from its membership in the UN General Assembly. We will increase our efforts to receive a judicial ruling from the International Criminal Court to investigate senior Israeli officials regarding the settlements and the aggression against Gaza and the prisoners, in addition to other steps entailed by the transition from the stage of an authority to the stage of a state. In other words, we will have a government that is the PLO Executive Committee, and a Palestinian parliament that is the parliament of the State of Palestine, and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas] will also be the president of the State of Palestine, in addition to other steps, such as a call for an Arab and Islamic summit, a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement , and taking the appropriate steps in the Arab and Islamic world against this aggressive position."