(NYDN). Palestinian chairman Mahmoud Abbas was apparently caught on camera declaring that he will never recognize a “Jewish state.”
Abbas made the startling statement in an interview last month on Egyptian Dream2TV TV that was monitored, translated and posted Tuesday by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
“First of all, let me make something clear about the story of the Jewish state, They started talking to me about the Jewish state only two years ago.”
“I’ve said it before and I will say it again: I will never recognize the Jewishness of the state or a Jewish state.”
Abbas, in the same unsettling interview, also weighs in on Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held captive for five years by Hamas militants.
The Palestinian leader calls the fact that they were able to hold Shalit captive in Gaza for five years “a good thing.”
“They were able to keep him and hide him,” he said.