Netanyahu cries 'ethnic cleansing' after offering to negotiate
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that he is willing to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but then quickly released a video clip accusing those who call for the evacuation of the settlements of supporting ethnic cleansing.
On many occasions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown an impressive ability to navigate conflicting messages and play both sides. He set new records last week when he announced that he wanted to renew negotiations with the Palestinians, and then just a few days later on Sept. 9 posted a video to Facebook equating evacuating Jews from the West Bank with “ethnic cleansing” by the Palestinians.
On Sept. 5, Netanyahu met in his office with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister for Middle East Affairs Mikhail Bogdanov, who was visiting the region to promote a peace summit in Moscow. At the meeting, the prime minister made it very clear that he was willing to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and to renew negotiations with him without any preconditions.
