PLO Council calls for halt to contacts with Israel .  RAMALLAH , West Bank 1996-08-28  The Palestinian Legislative Council on Wednesday called for a halt to contacts with Israel , just hours after President Yasser Arafat said the Jewish state had effectively declared war on the Palestinians by pursuing its hardline policies .  A resolution released by the council called for " halting contacts with the Israeli side and leaving the mechanism to carry out this to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat " .  The council was meeting in Ramallah to discuss Israel 's new policy of Jewish settlement expansion and its uncompromising line on Jerusalem since Prime Minister [START_ENT] Benjamin Netanyahu [END_ENT] took office in June .  Council resolutions are not necessarily binding .  Arafat had earlier blasted Israel saying its policies amounted to a declaration of war against the Palestinian people .  He also called for the first general strike in two years in the West Bank and Gaza on Thursday .  " What happened concerning continuous violations and crimes from this new Israeli leadership means they are declaring a state of war against the Palestinian people , " Arafat told the council .  Council speaker Ahmed Korei said the decision was part of a comprehensive plan to confront Israeli settlement policy , land confiscation and what he termed other violations of the Israeli-PLO peace deals .
Benjamin Netanyahu