Israel Matzav

Israel rejects Kerry proposal for resuming talks with 'Palestinians'

Israel has rejected a proposal put forward by US Secretary of State John FN Kerry for resuming talks with the 'Palestinians.'

A senior Israeli official, who was involved in the talks Kerry held in Jerusalem, said that Israel opposes Kerry's proposal to resume negotiations on the basis of discussing border and security issues alone.

Kerry has approached the Israeli-Palestinian issue with much enthusiasm, and is pressuring both sides to implement confidence-building measures and agree on a draft outline for resumption of talks. However, after his second visit to the region this week, it seems that the Secretary of State did not correctly assess just how frozen the standstill over the peace process is, and how rigid both sides' positions are. This is what Kerry was referring to when he left Israel saying that he himself, and the two sides, have a lot of homework to do.

A senior Israeli official, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the subject, expressed considerable skepticism regarding Kerry's steps, and made cynical, slightly scornful comments regarding his attitude. "Kerry believes that he can bring about the solution, the treaty and the salvation," he said. "He thinks that the conflict is primarily over territory…and that is wrong."

That sounds just like Obama four years ago... except that Obama is Kerry's boss and if that's what Kerry is putting forward, it's likely that Obama still believes that too.

[I]t seems that at this stage the most serious disagreement is between the U.S. and Israel. It appears that despite U.S. President Barack Obama's successful recent visit, the dialogue between Israel and the U.S. over the Palestinian question is regressing back to the differences that emerged in 2009.

During his discussions in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Kerry made it clear that in the event negotiations would be renewed, they would initially need to deal with a discussion over Israel's security requirements, in parallel with a discussion regarding the borders of the future Palestinian state.

Kerry also requested Israel to direct a series of confidence-building measures at the Palestinians, among them the release of prisoners and the transferal of weapons to Palestinian security forces in order to create a suitable atmosphere for the renewal of talks.

 And giving the 'Palestinians' mosre weapons with which to attack Israelis and repress their own people would create a 'suitable atmosphere'... precisely how?

The senior official noted that in talks with Kerry on Monday and Tuesday of this week, Israel expressed its opposition to such a draft outline. "There is a dispute over the framework of the process and over how it will be conducted," the official said. "Israel opposes placing the issues of borders and security at the preliminary stage of negotiations, and we said this to Kerry. On this issue, there is full consent among all the ministers dealing with the Palestinian subject, including Tzipi Livni."

For its part, Israel demands that if negotiations are to be resumed they will need to address, in parallel, all core issues of the final settlement – including the issue of recognition of Israel as a Jewish state , and a solution to the refugee problem. "If the discussion commences with talks about borders and security, Israel will only give, and will get almost nothing in return," the senior official said. "When we get to the issues where the Palestinians will need to give something up - like the right of return - we won’t have any bargaining chips left."

Read the whole thing. 

Often with 'peace talks' it's two steps forward and one step back. With the Obama administration, it appears to be one step forward and two steps back.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, final status negotiations, John Kerry, Middle East peace process, negotiations without preconditions

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:54 AM