'Israel not bound by Annapolis'

Dubai: Palestinians have given a cold welcome to the new right-wing Israeli government under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wenesday that Netanyahu "does not believe in peace" and urged the international community to put pressure on Israel.

"Benjamin Netanyahu never believed in a two-state solution or accepted signed agreements, and does not want to stop settlement [colony] activity," Abbas told the official Palestinian news agency.

Newly-appointed fire-brand Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned against peace concessions while speaking at a handover ceremony on Wednesday, adding that such concessions will only invite war.

"There is only one document that binds us and it is not the Annapolis conference," Lieberman said.

"Only the roadmap. The Israeli government and the Knesset [parliament] never adopted Annapolis," he said.

At the Annapolis conference, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to further "the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine" in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

Asked about Lieberman's comments, a source close to Netanyahu said the remarks largely reflected the new leader's position.

While Netanyahu is unlikely to pursue peace with the Palestinians, analysts believe he will keep up appearances with Washington, so as not to lose international credibility.

"While the Obama administration is seriously committed to diplomacy in support of a two-state solution, that in itself is not enough to revive the peace process," Nathan Brown of the Washington, DC-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told Gulf News.

Reacting to Lieberman's comments, Abbas's spokesman Nabeel Abu Rdainah said: "This is a challenge to the international community and to the United States that adopted the two-state solution."

"The United States should take a clear position against this policy before things get worse," he said.