P.A.'s Abbas Calls Kerry's Proposal 'Insanity'

JERUSALEM, Israel -- According to a New York Times report, President Obama intends to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to accept the framework agreement presented by Secretary of State John Kerry. 

The nine-month timeframe set by the Obama administration to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict expires in April.

Netanyahu and Obama plan to meet next Monday on the sidelines of the annual America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in Washington.

Kerry's recent meetings with Abbas in Paris hit a snag. The media quotes Abbas describing the framework agreement as "insanity."

While the details of the framework agreement have yet to be disclosed, some reports suggest it calls for Israel to keep its "major settlement blocs." It does not call for Israel to turn the Jordan Valley over to the Palestinian Authority nor the border over to international forces, neither of which are acceptable to Netanyahu.

Beyond that, the proposal calls on the Palestinian Authority to recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, which both Palestinian Authority factions -- Fatah and Hamas -- say will never happen.

Meanwhile, P.A. chief negotiator Saeb Erekat says when the nine-month timeframe is up on April 29, the talks will not be extended as long as Israel "continues to disregard international law."

"There is no meaning to prolong the negotiation, even for one more additional hour, if Israel, represented by its current government, continues to disregard international law," Erekat told Agence France Presse.