Israel's Channel 10 News reported at the weekend that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas rejected a desperate plea and offer of concessions by Israel and the US to immediately restart peace talks.

According to the report, Israel offered to approve a new large shipment of US weapons for the Palestinian Authority, to release 400 jailed Palestinian terrorists and to extend PA jurisdiction over parts of Judea and Samaria currently under Israeli security control.

But Abbas reportedly replied that unless Israel also stops building homes for Jews on the eastern side of Jerusalem, he is not interested. Ironically, the network reported that the US may actually be aiding Abbas in holding to that hard-line position. The reporter for Channel 10 told viewers that the US Consulate in Jerusalem recently set up a joint monitoring committee with the PA to keep tabs on Jewish housing projects in parts of the capital claimed by the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Abbas and the Palestinians continue to insist that it is Israel that is ruining the peace process and not interested in talks.