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Source: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=233902
Netanyahu Gives U.S. Lawmakers Questions for Abbas
(Jerusalem Post) Tovah Lazaroff - Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with 27 visiting Republican congressmen on Monday and suggested they ask Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas two questions when they meet him later this week. "Ask him, 'why don't you come and negotiate with Israel.'...I am willing to immediately start direct negotiations with him without preconditions. I am willing to invite him to my house in Jerusalem and I am willing to go to Ramallah." "Ask Abu Mazen [Abbas] why he refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish state. I have recognized a Palestinian state, he [Abbas] should be able to recognize a Jewish state." Netanyahu also spoke about the importance of a U.S. veto against the anticipated Palestinian bid for unilateral statehood at the UN Security Council in September. He said a UN vote in favor of Palestinian statehood would harden the Palestinian position for years and make it extremely difficult to negotiate a peace agreement. Netanyahu also thanked the congressmen for U.S. support for the Iron Dome missile defense system which thwarts Palestinian missiles launched from Gaza.