Abbas: "No negotiations while the Deal of the Century is on the table." What was his excuse for the past decade?

Mahmoud Abbas, meeting with members of his Fatah movement on Sunday, reiterated that he will never negotiate with Israel as long as the "Deal of the Century" is on the table.

Of course, he hasn't negotiated since he rejected Obama's parameters so his lack of negotiations has nothing to do with Trump. It is simply Abbas' rejectionism, holding on to positions that the PLO has held since 1988.

He did say that he would participate if the negotiations are done under the auspices of the Quartet - remember them? - and if UN resolutions are preconditions, what he calls "international legitimacy."

Abbas also put forth a novel theory, saying that he doesn't believe that Jared Kushner or Jason Greenblatt wrote the plan. He thinks it was Israel's Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, that dictated it to the Americans. His "evidence" is that the Peace to Prosperity Plan mentions knafeh from Nablus and (I think) something about Palestinian ice cream, something the Americans wouldn't have possibly known about.

The Peace to Prosperity plan mentions nothing about Nablus knafeh or ice cream. Apparently Abbas never actually read the plan and had some underling summarize it for him, badly.

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