But Abbas has rejected his plea and sought to strengthen negotiating hand by joining UN agencies, especially the International Court of Justice.
Both Israelis and Palestinians have publicly blamed each other for the crisis in the negotiations.
Palestinians are upset that Israel delayed and then cancelled the promised release of 26 Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel for past involvement in terror attacks.
Angry with the Palestinians' decision, Netanyahu said they have much to lose by this unilateral move.
“The Palestinians substantially violated the understandings that were reached with American involvement. The Palestinians' threats to appeal to the UN will not affect us. The Palestinians have much to lose by this unilateral move, he was quoted as saying by The Jerusalem Post.
“They will achieve a state only by direct negotiations, not by empty statements and not by unilateral moves. These will only push a peace agreement farther away,” Netanyahu said.
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