JERUSALEM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday hinted that Israel may resume peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA).
"Many states around us have common interests with us; they see Israel as a central partner in fending off common dangers," Netanyahu spokesman Ofir Gendelman said via Twitter.
"We will make every effort to translate this cooperation into stability and peace, including attempts to reach a responsible settlement with the Palestinians," Gendelman said.
One day earlier, Netanyahu appointed his own deputy and interior minister, Silvan Shalom, to represent the Israeli government in any future peace negotiations with the PA.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, however, commenting on these developments, ruled out the possibility of resuming talks with the Israelis in the short-term future.
"Netanyahu has repeatedly said that he wants peace. But in reality, his policies of settlement-building, arrests and assassinations speak of nothing but racism and hate," Erekat told Palestinian public radio earlier Tuesday.
Shalom, who is also Israeli deputy prime minister, is set to assume the role played by former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni under the former government.
Peace talks between Palestinian and Israeli negotiators ground to a halt in early 2014 after Israel failed to honor earlier pledges to release a group of Palestinian detainees.
In the roughly one year since, relations between the PA and Israel have deteriorated markedly, especially after a reconciliation deal between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas.
When the reconciliation deal was signed, Netanyahu had asserted that Fatah – led by PA President Mahmoud Abbas – had chosen to ally itself with Hamas, an arch-enemy of Israel.
Relations deteriorated further a few months later after the PA joined a number of international organizations, including The Hague-based International Criminal Court.
The PA demands an independent state of Palestine in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
