An image take through a helicopter window shows the Mukataa, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, on July 19, 2013 in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Jerusalem: Moves towards a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were mired in rumours, rebuttals, criticism and confusion yesterday in an indication of the political and diplomatic swamp facing key negotiators and their mediator, the US secretary of state, John Kerry.
In a high-profile dismissal of the embryonic process, Israel’s former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, wrote on Facebook that there was “no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at least not in the coming years, and what’s possible and important to do is conflict-management”.
Naftali Bennett, economics minister, insisted construction on Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem would continue, regardless of talks.
The comments by two crucial partners in the Israeli coalition are a sign of deep hostility within the government over the agreement for preliminary talks forged by Kerry on Friday.
Meanwhile, a veteran Palestinian negotiator, Yasser Abed Rabbo, denied that a firm decision had been taken to enter talks, saying further clarification was needed on a framework and the Palestinians were still discussing terms with Kerry. According to a Palestinian source, Kerry had written a letter giving a US assurance that the basis of territorial talks would be the pre-1967 border, but it was not clear whether the letter had been delivered.
“If we have well-defined terms of reference and a clear time frame — by which we mean the end of the year — we will go into talks,” the source said.
Among the few formal statements of the day, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, told cabinet colleagues that resuming the diplomatic process was “a vital strategic interest of the State of Israel, first of all because we want peace”. However, any agreement would be put to a referendum of the Israeli public, he added.
The Israeli president, Shimon Peres, congratulated his Palestinian counterpart on “a brave and historic decision to return to negotiations”.
The Guardian
