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From <i> The New York Times <i> --Highlighting tensions between the two leaders, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu maintains this recognition is a crucial and necessary step in bringing peace to the two countries.

“I do not accept it,” Mr. Abbas said in a speech in Ramallah, in the West Bank. “It is not my job to give a description of the state. Name yourself the Hebrew Socialist Republic — it is none of my business,” he added, according to Reuters.