Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is saying “no way” to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state in comments issued Friday by the official WAFA news agency. He also said he would not accept only a portion of east Jerusalem for the capital of Palestine. Abbas said he was standing up to pressure from the U.S., as he did when seeking UN recognition for Palestine as a state. Secretary of State John Kerry has recently been pursuing a restart of negotiations between the two sides in the long and bitter dispute. He has set a deadline of April 29 for a framework.
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