At the start of Sunday's cabinet meeting in the southern Israel town of Beersheva, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Palestinian Authority and the wider Arab world to stop being so stubborn and to start cooperating with the Jewish state in order to achieve a viable and lasting peace.
"There is no reason why we can't meet, and I even suggest that it be here, in Beersheba," Netanyahu said. "I call on Palestinian leaders and Arab countries: let's meet, let's cooperate. We have the ability to bring many players on board. We are making efforts to ease the lives of Palestinians, but all these efforts can only bring us to a certain point."
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has defiantly refused to meet with Netanyahu, or to allow his subordinates to meet with their Israeli counterparts, because the Israeli leader won't verbally commit to Palestinian demands as a prerequisite.