Israeli warns unrest could hit Palestine

RAMAT GAN, Israel, March 5 (UPI) -- A top Israeli official called on the Palestinian Authority Saturday to return to peace talks before it is shaken by the growing wave of Arab unrest.

Speaking in the town of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon warned, "There is no guarantee that regional forces of change will not hit the Palestinian Authority's leadership as well," Ynetnews reported.

"The Palestinian leadership is repeating its historic mistakes of maximum demands and minimum compromises," he said, two days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the idea of an interim accord.

Ayalon, a leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, also condemned extremist settlers who clashed with Israeli security forces at the West Bank outpost of Havat Gilad.

"The phenomenon of rioting by the radical minority among the settler public, which is called a 'day of rage', is morally wrong from a Jewish perspective and harmful in terms of peace and security," he said. "I call on the Judea and Samaria [West Bank] leadership to show responsibility and leadership and end the violence."