Last Friday, Hilary Clinton invited Israel and the PA to Washington for direct talks. “These negotiations should take place without preconditions and be characterized by good faith and a commitment to their success,” she said.
According to Asharq al-Awsat, Mahmoud Abbas was furious at the announcement.
The newspaper says that Abbas went "mad" when he heard Clinton's words, because he wanted there to be a statement from the Quartet before the negotiations to confirm that they support a solution based on the 1949 armistice lines.
His angry reaction caused much consternation in Washington, and the White House made three separate phone calls to Abbas in an hour in order to calm him down, according to the report, in order to convince him not to abandon the talks.
