Erekat: Annexation will destroy any chance of peace

Saeb Erekat, Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said on Sunday that an application of sovereignty over even “one inch” of “occupied Palestinian Territory” by Prime Binyamin Benjamin Netanyahu means an extermination of any chance of peace in the region.

“If Netanyahu goes ahead with the annexation and apartheid, then he must ally with the American racist extremist organization, Klu Klux Klan, and must be ready to assume all his responsibilities as an occupying power,” said Erekat, who spoke during a virtual meeting of Israeli and foreign journalists and quoted by the Wafa news agency.

“An annexation means the destruction of the Palestinian Authority, and this will be the end of a solution through negotiations,” he threatened.

“The Israelis do not like the facts, and believe that denying the facts denies their existence. They [the Israelis] must realize that annexation means apartheid and racism,” stated Erekat.

PA officials are outraged over the coalition agreement between Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, which stipulates that the government can apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria in July.

In response to the planned move, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas announced last month that the PA would no longer be bound to any of the agreements with Israel.

The PA has also taken its battle against the sovereignty plan to the United Nations, seeking official condemnation by the international body against the Jewish state.

On Friday, it announced that it will start issuing personal documents for Palestinian Arabs without having the papers validated by Israel as in the past.