Israel Matzav

Space cadet holding secret talks with 'Palestinians' to restart talks

Israel's favorite space cadet, who is supposed to hold an honorary and not a policy-making position, has been holding 'secret' talks with the 'Palestinians' in an effort to get them back to the negotiating table for the first time in two and a half years.

Haaretz has learned that on Tuesday night, Peres held a long meeting with the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat. The two went over maps of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in an effort to find a formula that would bypass the dispute over establishing the June 4, 1967 border as a basis for negotiations toward a final settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.

One option explored was the exchange of territory, and others was to compensate the Palestinians for settlement blocs annexed into Israel, on the basis of the U.S. proposal that the area of a Palestinian state be equal to the territory of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Both the president's and prime minister's bureaus refused to comment on the report.

A senior Palestinian source in Ramallah confirmed that Erekat met a number of times with Peres, including this week.

A hint at the meetings with the Palestinians could be found in statements made by Peres during a special message to the Arabic media on the eve of Ramadan, which is expected to begin early next week.

"I speak with all sides," Peres said. "I know that there are exchanges in order to prevent [the crisis] in September and that the differences are very minor."

And you thought those were the sorts of things that are supposed to be resolved in negotiations and not as a condition for getting to negotiations, didn't you?

Peres is acting in coordination with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Here's the payoff for that.

While surveys show Netanyahu's popularity shrinking over the housing protests and doctors' strike, Peres announced his support for Netanyahu's domestic aid package.

"In talks with the prime minister, ministers and MKs, my impression is that they realize the seriousness of the situation," the president said. "I hope that the program the prime minister has presented will ease the standing of the middle class."

What could go wrong?

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Saeb Erekat, Shimon Peres, two-state solution, unilateral declaration of statehood

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:48 PM