国际英语新闻：PNA rejects Netanyahu's call for peace talks

RAMALLAH, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Tuesday rejected a fresh call by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume peace talks.

Netanyahu's call from Berlin on Monday "was kind of public relations," said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.

"Netanyahu wants to negotiate only for the sake of negotiations while the Palestinian side sees that the negotiations must be a way to make peace," Erekat added.

The Palestinians want Israel first to stop Jewish settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a key precondition before going back to the talks that stopped in December 2008.

Erekat also said that the talks must restart from the last point they stopped at when Israel launched a military offensive against the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians demand East Jerusalem to be their future capital, but the continuation of the settlement activities in the eastern part of the holy city hindered the efforts to revive the peace process.

"Netanyahu must realize the meaning of Jerusalem for the Arabs, the Palestinians and the Muslims and that negotiations without Jerusalem are useless and that peace can not be made without East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine," Erekat said.

Speaking at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday, Netanyahu said Israel was ready for peace talks, and hoped the Palestinians can show "equal readiness."