Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., June 19, 2009 Sivan 27, 5769 | | Israel Time: 05:46 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Focus U.S.A. Travel Week's End Anglo File
Share |
Last update - 21:19 17/06/2009
Obama envoy hints at peace talks within weeks
By The Associated Press
Tags: Palestinians 

United States seeks a "prompt resumption and early conclusion" of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Washington's special Mideast envoy said after talks Wednesday with Palestinian leaders.

Former Senator George Mitchell did not give any timetable in his prepared statement to reporters after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah. A day earlier, however, Mitchell said preparations to revive negotiations could be could conclude within weeks.

"We hope to conclude the discussions in which we are now engaged very soon. To me it's a matter of weeks, not many months," he said.
Advertisement
The U.S. is engaged in an unusually public spat with Israel over its retreat from commitments to negotiate Palestinian statehood and its insistence on expanding settlements on land the Palestinians claim for that state.

"The only viable resolution to this conflict is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states," Mitchell said on Wednesday. "As President Obama said last week, America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity and a state of their own."

Americans, Europeans, Arabs and others who seek to promote peace "all share an obligation to create the conditions for the prompt resumption and early conclusion of negotiations," he said.

In a landmark speech to the Muslim world in Cairo last week, Obama promised to work aggressively to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Following up on the speech, Mitchell has pressed on with Obama's demands both for a settlement freeze and an endorsement of the concept of a Palestinian state.

Abbas gave Mitchell an itemized list of Israeli settlement expansion and Palestinian homes that Israel has recently demolished in east Jerusalem, the sector of the city the Palestinians claim for a future capital, senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said.

In his meeting Tuesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mitchell sought to allay Israeli fears over the growing rift, assuring Israel that the U.S. commitment to Israeli security was "unshakable."

It remains unclear whether Netanyahu will soften any of his positions in a policy speech he is scheduled to deliver on Sunday. Erekat declined to disclose whether Mitchell brought any indication to Abbas that Netanyahu had modified his stance.

The U.S. knows that when Israel "says it doesn't accept the two-state solution and doesn't want to freeze settlement expansion, that means it says 'no' to resuming negotiations," Erekat said.

Later Wednesday, Mitchell traveled to Cairo, where he met Egypt's foreign minister and powerful intelligence chief, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki.

Mitchell's latest swing through the region is also set to include stops in Lebanon and Syria.




The chief Palestinian negotiator said Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must resume peace talks from the point where they ended under Israel's previous, more moderate government.

Ahmed Qureia told reporters at his office just east of Jerulaem that "talks cannot start from scratch", but Netanyahu wants to restart the process at the beginning.

Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, directed a year of wide-ranging
negotiations with the Palestinians that touched on a series of sensitive issues. No agreements were made public, and Israeli and Palestinian officials disagree on the scope of the understandings.

Netanyahu says Israel is ready to resume negotiations but refuses to be bound to Olmert's reported concessions. Palestinians say they turned down his offer of a state in Gaza, more than 90 percent of the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem.

In a major policy speech Sunday, Netanyahu confirmed that such an offer was rejected.

In that speech, Netanyahu for the first time endorsed the idea of a
Palestinian state. However, he listed a series of conditions rejected by the Palestinians, including a refusal to share control over the holy city of Jerusalem, demilitarization and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

The Israel-Palestinian talks followed the 2007 peace summit between Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Annapolis, Maryland. Their basis was the internationally backed 2003 road map peace plan, which called for a three-stage process for negotiations toward a Palestinian state.

The plan quickly bogged down in the first stage, which required the
Palestinians to beef up security and halt militant attacks, and which demanded that Israel freeze settlement construction in the West Bank.

Israel still insists it needs to continue construction inside existing
settlements to accommodate the needs to the settlers, putting it at odds with the Obama administration, which is demanding a complete freeze.

Netanyahu is expected to discuss settlements next week in Europe with the
White House Mideast envoy, George Mitchell.

Nearly 300,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, along with 180,000
Israelis in Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem. The Palestinian seek both areas, captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War, as parts of a future state.

Related articles:
  • 'U.S.-Israel row over West Bank settlements to be resolved soon'
  • Netanyahu's message is there will be no peace
  • Demilitarized Palestine? Just sign this non-aggression pact first
    • PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
    Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Iran soccer protest
    Protest by members of Iranian national team is particularly embarrassing for Ahmadinejad
    Bruno premiere
    Sacha Baron Cohen holds 'royal' premiere in London for gay Austrian fashionista
      1.   PM is like President Obama is not bopund by prior "understandings 17:58  |  17 17/06/09
      2.   rocket attacks 18:09  |  vik 17/06/09
      3.   PA Negotiator 18:28  |  Jordan Ariel 17/06/09
      4.   "Pick up where Olmert left off" 18:34  |  Translating Arabic 17/06/09
      5.   Expectations 19:14  |  Murray 17/06/09
      6.   begin with the road map.. 19:32  |  beeby 17/06/09
      7.   How to Outmaneouvre Netanyahu 20:08  |  Shaul Ben-Yimini 17/06/09
      8.   #Shaul Ben-Yimini Great post. Salud 20:24  |  Lou Medel 17/06/09
      9.   Two different States 20:28  |  Shaul Ben-Yimini 17/06/09
      10.   It would seem Hamas is cracking heads in Tehren 20:48  |  Lynn 17/06/09
      11.   They forget 21:06  |  Jackie 17/06/09
      12.   "..on land the Palestinians claim.." ?, so its not ocupied then? 21:20  |  Kris Lazar 17/06/09
      13.   They always want to go back in time... 21:38  |  Ben 17/06/09
      14.   Obama envoy hints but Pals say no negotiations 21:38  |  Realist 17/06/09
      15.   #7 shaul unable to add 1 plus 1 he makes it 6.75 21:43  |  v hardman 17/06/09
      16.   Fathers Day Prayer of a Faithful and True Jew 21:43  |  Shimon Cleopas 17/06/09
      17.   Arrogance will never bring peace... 22:01  |  Tony Silver 17/06/09
      18.   To painful or to dangerous to see 02:30  |  allang 18/06/09
      19.   No 1. You`re right 02:33  |  Skandar 18/06/09
      20.   #12 A remarkable argument, Kris Lazar 03:28  |  Johnboy 18/06/09
      21.   Stay strong BiBi 03:52  |  Natallie Durson 18/06/09
      22.   Ceding Territory Not Required 04:16  |  Shaul Ben-Yimini 18/06/09
      23.   #22 Say that again, Shaul? 06:06  |  Johnboy 18/06/09
      24.   Quoting Blackstone not required (ben-Yimini) 06:09  |  Morris Valentine 18/06/09
      25.   Imprecise reading (Johnboy) 08:03  |  Shaul Ben-Yimini 18/06/09
      26.   Explicating Blackstone now required (it seems) 08:08  |  Shaul Ben-Yimini 18/06/09
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    hotel Jerusalem
    David Citadel Hotel, come stay at the finest of Jerusalem hotels.
    ISRAEL ARMY SURPLUS STORE
    IDF insignia,Uniforms, Paladium Boots Watches, Israel Army T-shirts & Collectibles
    Dead Sea Skin Care
    Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off!
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    More Headlines
    02:57 Lieberman has a vision for first stage of peace talks
    04:35 Israel to Arab states: Press PA to resume peace negotiations
    23:11 Hundreds of thousands on Iran's streets for candlelight protest
    21:58 I never thought I'd be rooting for Iran
    19:57 Iran interactive - images, videos, and Tweets from the streets
    01:18 VIDEO: Border Police upload footage of their abuse of Palestinians to YouTube
    05:33 Arab world sees settlement row as test of Obama's credibility
    20:58 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
    20:55 Iran: We thwarted election day bomb plot linked to Israel
    01:49 How an IDF colonel trains infantrymen to think, as well as charge
    03:42 Holocaust victims who fled to Iran fight courts for compensation
    04:32 Yossi Sarid / Netanyahu's acceptance of my ideas only made me angrier
    22:18 ANALYSIS / Iran soccer protest particularly shaming for Ahmadinejad
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
    | Israel 2009 election results | Makom: Engaging on Israel
    | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved