Referring to a panel discussion with his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni at the Munich Security Conference in Germany last week, Saeb Erekat said on Tuesday “Livni accused us of not wanting peace, and I told her that Israel is racist against Palestinians in ways that did not happen in South Africa. The world should rise against this racist regime, hold it accountable and punish it.”

Erekat further stated on Tuesday that the Israeli regime must be held accountable by the international community for its aggressive policies against Palestinians.

Israel must be “held accountable by the international community, and not just condemned and denounced,” he said.

Erekat also emphasized that the Palestinians would never recognize the Tel Aviv regime as a "Jewish state."

“I told her in front of the whole world that we will not change our history, our religion or our civilization. We are the lawful sons of Palestine, [and] we will not accept Israel as a Jewish state,” Erekat said.

He slammed Israel’s continued settlement activities and the killing of over forty Palestinians since the resumption of talks in July 2013, saying Israel has “built over 10,000 settler homes, demolished over 219 Palestinian homes and killed over 40 Palestinians.”

The two sides of the US-brokered negotiations have failed to make significant progress due to substantial disagreements.

The regime’s settlement expansion policy has been among the major sticking points in the talks.

HH/MB