Israel Matzav

Kerry orders next group of 'Palestinian' terrorists released on December 29 'as scheduled'

While he was in Israel on Friday, US Secretary of State John FN Kerry ordered Prime Minister Netanyahu to release the third group of 'Palestinian' terrorists 'on schedule' on December 29, despite the total lack of 'progress' in the 'peace talks.'

Speaking at a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv before departing to Vietnam, Kerry said the U.S. is "not talking at this point about any shifts (in the schedule)." Over the last week, Kerry attempted to convince the Palestinians to agree to delay the prisoner release by a month, fearing that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the planned release, would declare another wave of settlement construction which could derail the peace process.

Silly me. I thought that the delay in the terrorist release was designed to pressure 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen to at least take seriously and not reject out hand American security proposals. 

Back to the first link:

Kerry had offered the Palestinians that the fourth group of prisoners will be released sooner so more than 60 Palestinian prisoners will be released at the end of January at once. Kerry had wanted the prisoner release to take place at the same time as the presentation of the "framework agreement" which he plans to formulate with both sides in the coming weeks.

The reader is left to wonder whether Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to this 'deal' or whether he was just to be ordered to go along with it if the 'Palestinians' agreed. From what I recall, the fourth release is not to take place until April, by which time the parties are supposed to have concluded a deal (ha! ha!).

Kerry's press conference came after a three-hour meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday night and another meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Friday morning. Kerry's visit in Jerusalem and Ramallah proved to be a difficult operation due to the heavy snowstorms in the area. 

Three hours? That's funny. JPost reported that the meeting lasted less than 30 minutes. 

In the press conference, Kerry emphasized that there is no plan to extend the nine-month timeframe that has been given to renewed peace talks. "Our goal remains a final status agreement. Not an interim agreement," he said. 

What could go wrong?

Labels: Abu Mazen, Binyamin Netanyahu, John Kerry, Middle East peace process, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:13 PM