Israel denied a report that it may declare void the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians.

President Shimon Peres, one of the architects of the 1993 interim peace accords, said July 26 that he “checked out” a report in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz that the Netanyahu government might call off the accords should the Palestinians press ahead with their unilateral statehood bid at the United Nations.

“There is no basis for this, no basis. It is a journalistic rumor without basis,” he told Arab journalists convened at the President’s Residence in honor of next month’s Ramadan holiday.

“I say this because in my opinion, all countries must honor their commitments, otherwise there would be no point in signing agreements,” the former Israeli prime minister added. “If you sign and then cancel, why sign?” — jta