Abbas: Israel should respect democratic choice of the Palestinian people

President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that his government rejects "unilateral solutions," asserting that Israeli government and the entire world "should respect the democratic choice of the Palestinian people, who should do not be punished for this."

Abbas said that "the Israeli Government does not consider us as a partner," adding that Israel refused to deal with late president Yasser Arafat during the last 5 years of his presidency.