It has been reported that during the Annapolis conference, Israel offered the Palestinian side recognition of a Palestinian state with provisional borders and that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas quickly rejected the offer.

It is not hard to guess why Abbas refused such an offer; its acceptance would be tantamount to consolidating Israel’s grip on Palestinian territories for an indefinite period of time and would put the border issue in deep freeze.

One of the defining characteristics of an independent state is its borders with neighbouring countries. The jurisdiction of an independent state extends to its entire territory, and keeping the borders of a projected Palestinian state vague goes against the very definition of a state that the Palestinian people has been yearning for and is entitled to have after so many decades.

The Israeli offer is simply and purely escaping reality. It is an insult to a partner in negotiations and a clear sign that Israel is not giving serious consideration to the idea of a Palestinian state.

Despite the hopes pinned on the Annapolis conference last month, it is obvious that Israel has yet to demonstrate its readiness to move forward in earnest on the peace front.

The Palestinians have the right, nay, the duty, to stand by their demands and reject all Israeli manoeuvres that evidently lead nowhere.

Besides, the border problem is one to be discussed among final status issues that have been waiting a resolution since the peace process started.

The rejection of this Israeli gambit must also come from the Quartet countries. This would be the only way Israeli leaders might understand that inconsequential offers must not be made to the Palestinians in the first place, in a bid to waste more precious time.

Because time is not on its side.