Abbas urges Obama to 'impose' peace deal

Palestinian officials have said privately that they believe only strong US intervention can break the impasse with Israel. Still, Abbas' blunt public appeal Saturday was unusual.
In a speech to leaders of his Fatah movement, the Palestinian president noted that the Obama administration has defined the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel as a strategic US interest.
“Since you, Mr. President and you, the members of the American administration, believe in this, it is your duty to call for the steps in order to reach the solution and impose the solution — impose it,” Abbas said. “But don't tell me it's a vital national strategic American interest ... and then not do anything.”
The traditional US position has been to act as a mediator, while treating Israel and the Palestinians as equal partners who in the end must make their own decisions. Critics have said this approach does not take into account the imbalance of power — that Palestinians live under Israeli military occupation.
Earlier this month, The Washington Post quoted Obama administration officials as saying the president is considering proposing an American peace plan for the Mideast. Since then, however, top US officials have reiterated the traditional view that the US can help, but that the final decisions lie with Israelis and the Palestinians.
The US has tried in vain to restart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that broke down in December 2008. The two sides remain far apart on the framework for such talks, and White House envoy George Mitchell returned to the region Friday to try to narrow the divide.
The US has proposed indirect talks, with Mitchell acting as a go-between. However, the Palestinians say they won't engage unless Israel agrees not to start new housing projects for Jews in Arab East Jerusalem.
In his speech Saturday, Abbas also dismissed the idea of establishing a Palestinian state within temporary borders.
He referred to recent proposals for such a provisional state, but did not elaborate. He said the Palestinians were being asked to “take a state with provisional borders on 40 or 50 percent, and after that we will see.” But he stressed “we will not accept a state with temporary borders.” An Israeli newspaper reported earlier this week that Netanyahu made such a proposal.
In the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Israeli gunfire wounded two Palestinians and a woman from Malta who were among a group of protesters marching toward the border with Israel, according to Palestinian health official Moawiya Hassanain.
The military confirmed the shooting, and said soldiers opened fire to get protesters away from the border fence.