„I say to the people of Israel: If you make peace with us, we will come, as will 57 other Arab and Muslim countries that would immediately begin to recognize Israel and normalize relations.“

He responded to increasing violence in Jerusalem the past week as well as calls from Hamas encouraging a third, violent intifada.

„We do not want an intifada. We are not calling for an intifada,“ Abbas said. „I told the people ‚These are our holy places and we want to keep them quiet.'“