Palestinian leader calls for new peace effort in U.N. speech

JERUSALEM — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday called for an international conference early next year to launch a “genuine peace process” while criticizing the recent decision of two Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel.

Abbas seemed to acknowledge the growing international weariness with the decades-old conflict as he delivered the latest in a long series of addresses to the U.N. General Assembly.

“I wondered while preparing this statement what more could I tell you, after all that I have said in previous statements,” he said in the video address from his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The Palestinians have rejected President Donald Trump’s proposal to end the conflict, which overwhelmingly favors Israel, and have officially cut off contacts with both the U.S. and Israel. Arguing that Washington is no longer an honest broker, they have called for a multilateral peace process based on U.N. resolutions and past agreements.

They have also rejected the decision of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize ties with Israel, viewing it as a betrayal of the long-standing Arab consensus that recognition of Israel should come only in exchange for territorial concessions. Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, responded with a video statement calling Abbas’ speech a collection of “lies and incitement against Israel.”

The Palestinians insist that the core Middle East conflict will not be resolved until they realize their aspirations for independence.

“We will not kneel or surrender, andwe will not deviate from our fundamental positions, and we shall overcome,” Abbas said.