ISRAEL: PA OFFFICIAL’S COMMENTS PROVE THEY DON’T WANT PEACE: If Israeli officials needed proof that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is not interested in peace, they found it in remarks made this week, by the PA’s FM Riyad al-Malki. Malki, who accompanied PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas on a visit to Japan, was asked questions about the deadlock in the peace talks with Israel. “We will never go back and sit again in direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations,” he replied. Officials in the prime minister's entourage to Berlin, where PM Binyamin Netanyahu met with Chancellor Angela Merkel, said in response that anyone who wants to resume the peace process should be aware of statements of this kind. "We know that peace will only be achieved through direct negotiations. It seems that the Palestinians know this as well so they do not want direct negotiations," the official said. The comments come amid a renewed push by the West to resume talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The last round of peace talks between the sides stalled in 2014 when the PA breached the condition of the talks and unilaterally joined international institutions. Since then, much pressure has been applied on Israel to resume discussion, even though the PA has rejected them and Abbas has continuously imposed preconditions on the talks. Abbas has admitted that he rejected "out of hand" an Israeli offer for a PA state on nearly 95% of Judea & Samaria. (INN)