Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas gestures as he gives a speech during a meeting with the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)’s Central Council in the West Bank city of Ramallah on April 26, 2014. Palestinians will never recognise Israel as the “Jewish state,” Abbas said, as his leadership convened to chart a course of action after Israel halted peace talks. “In 1993 we recognised Israel,” Abbas told members of the PLO, adding that the Palestinians should not be forced to go a step further and recognise Israel’s religious identity. AFP PHOTO / ABBAS MOMANI