Egyptian Foreign Minister: 'Proximity talks going nowhere'
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit is not fooled by the sweetness and light being put out by the Obama White House. While the Obama administration claims that the gaps between Israel and the 'Palestinians' have narrowed in the 'proximity talks,' Aboul Gheit had a much more blunt assessment in an interview with al-Sharq al-Awsat. Aboul Gheit criticized the methods of US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, and said proximity talks could last another ten years before yielding results.I don't care much for Aboul Gheit, especially because what he is really saying is that Israel isn't making concessions quickly enough. But as to his assessment that the 'proximity talks' are going nowhere, he's dead on.
“All the indications are that we are going about this the wrong way and so are likely to reach a crisis,” the minister said. Mitchell has shuttled for weeks between the two sides in search of common ground.
The comments contrasted those made on Friday by White House officials, who said talks had made progress and expressed hope that direct negotiations could be resumed in the near future.
"The gaps have narrowed," Daniel Shapiro, senior Middle East director at the US National Security Council, told reporters on Friday. "And we believe there are opportunities to further narrow those gaps, to allow the sides to take that next step to the direct talks. And so we're encouraged."
What could go wrong?
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:56 PM
1 Comments:
The "proximity talks" are not going anywhere because the Palestinians don't want peace with Israel. That's obvious to every one who knows why the Israel-Palestinian conflict continues to exist. And as long as that is case, no amount of Israeli concessions is to going to bring about peace.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit gets it. The White House and special envoy George Mitchell have yet to understand the real reason the so called proximity talks are dead in the water.
What could go wrong indeed
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