Peres: Netanyahu Blocked 2011 ’Peace’ Deal

Local Editor

"Israeli" President Shimon Peres accused Tuesday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of blocking a "2011 ‘peace' agreement he had secretly negotiated with Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas."

Peres said he and Abbas had finalized a draft agreement in a series of secret meetings in neighboring Jordan but the draft was rejected by Netanyahu's right-leaning government.
"We had gone through all of the points and the agreement was ready," Peres told "Israel's" Channel Two television.

He further said: "Netanyahu told me to wait a few days because he thought that Tony Blair could get a better offer," Peres said, referring to the former British prime minister who is the envoy of the Middle East quartet of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States.

"The days passed and there was no better offer."

It was not the first time that the secret talks between Peres and Abbas had been revealed.
In August 2011, Abbas told a meeting of his ruling Fatah movement that he had held four rounds of talks with the "Israeli" president.

"After the first four meetings, a fifth meeting was planned in Amman but Shimon Peres made his excuses and told me: 'I'm sorry but the government doesn't accept what we have negotiated and there's nothing more I can do'," he said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team