Israel begins forming negotiations team for direct peace talks
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with advisers to select members of Israel's delegation for direct peace talks with PA in Washington; lawyer Yitzhak Molcho to head team.
By Barak Ravid Tags: Israel news Middle East peace Benjamin NetanyahuPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday evening began forming Israel's negotiating team for the direct peace negotiations set to commence next week in Washington, the Prime Minister's Office announced.
Netanyahu will assemble a small negotiating team that will be under his direct supervision, in order to allow for thorough, serious and speedy talks.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu |
| Photo by: Emil Salman |
Netanyahu was expected to meet with advisers Yitzhak Molcho, Ron Dermer, and Uzi Arad, among others, in order to pick who will be part of the delegation that will travel to Washington, where direct peace talks with the Palestinian Authority are set to start on September 2.
Molcho will head the negotiating team, which is to include representatives from various government ministries.
The Foreign Ministry's representative will be the diplomat Yaakov Hadas.
The Prime Minister's Office has asked that the Defense Ministry's representatives in Washington help coordinate and plan the logistics of Netanyahu trip due to the strike of the Foreign Ministry's workers' committee.
Channel 10 reported on Thursday that senior U.S. diplomat Dennis Ross has arrived in Israel in order to find a solution of the settlement freeze issue, ahead of the opening of direct peace talks.
A 10-month freeze in settlement construction declared by Netanyahu last November is set to expire on September 26. Palestinian officials have said that renewed settlement construction would cause them to pull out of the new peace talks.
Ross' reported visit comes as two other American officials - Daniel Shapiro, a top National Security Council staffer handling Israel and neighboring countries, and David Hale, deputy to special Mideast envoy George Mitchell - are in Israel handling preliminary negotiations in the run-up to the talks next week in Washington.
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I suspect the reality is the PM is only now publicly announcing the members of the team- not really deciding who will be on team for talks set to begin in a few days, when ther is much to know.when
Why does Mr. Netanyahu need a "negotiating" team.?? His agenda is already set. !!! Why waste time and money on a bunch of "yes people. ??? I do believe that a team of one could as well do the job in trying to wiggle himself out of the "peace" process.
Well here it is, the chance to finally end six decades of conflict and hatred, to be welcomed back into the international community as a wise, valued and respected member. Can the PM rise to the occasion and take the necessary risks? Can Israel accept a fair compromise, knowing that it can only reasonably get about half of what it's asking for - and then only if it leaves out some of its more extreme proposals? It is fashionable on radical right and left alike to criticise Pres Abbas. But he and Fayad are the most moderate Pal leaders yet, they have stopped conflict, clamped down on extremists, created a modern, capable police force and gendarmerie and got the economy and civil institutions shaping up. They too are courting substantial personal and political risks questing for a settlement, because both parties to the talks have extremist religious-ethnic elements that will never be happy with less than the whole cake. There will have to be a compromise on E J'sem, from both sides. On ROR, from the Pal side. On the amount of territory to be ceded to Israel, from the Israeli side. Here's hoping that both sides do their best and that a majority of their citizens accept and endorse the best halfway house deal that can be done. If Hamas, Islamic splinter groups, Feiglinites and religious settlers all rant and rave, then it's almost certainly the right solution - but it will need moderate left, right and centre to unite to support it and drive it through and thereby condemn the extremists to the outer political edges. Here's hoping both sides and all of us rise to the occasion.
Do you think the Palestinians should reject an offer approximating roughly 98% of the territories AGAIN? Morons, such as yourself, blather on about whether Israel is capable. Meanwhile, Israel signed treaties with Jordan and Egypt. The Palestinians have spat in the face of every peace offer on the table. It was the Palestinians who've rejected every fair compromise, not Israel.
Must bug the hell out of him to know they are picking thier own team this time. How things have changed.
how is that relevant? seems to me you just want to make a stink in your posting
Israel is a Jewish State. Any serious delegation should give a place of prominance to an honored Rabbi. His role would be one of leading prayer and adding moral legitimacy to the delegation. His presence would add very positively to any expected outcome of the talks.
Israel is not a Jewish state. It is a Zionist state. And Aron, you are happy to get land under any pretense but only a Rabbi can give some of it back?
...scrambling, dickering, horse-trading--whatever--going on--for something of this nature--with all the presumed importance placed on it--to be left to what seems to be sort of the LAST MINUTE. (Then again, I never worked at (or even near) the PINNACLE OF POWER!)
This says a lot about this bunch of chancers, LOL
?
because if he was there, there would be progress in the talks!!!!!
If there was sincerity in the Israeli people, they would not stand by the Netanyahu-Lieberman-Ultra Orthodox coalition. They would be promoting ways in which Israel can disengage from the occupation. They would be reacting to the abuses of the settlers and the IDF. They would be considering how to strengthen the Palestinian economy so that Palestine can become a viable, governable, prosperous nation-state.
They would not elect Hamas. Moreover right wing governments were always the ones to move towards peace.
with your spin. Can't you just as easily say "If there was sincerity in the Pal people, the would be rejecting Hamas' terrorist ways, disengage from the "drive them into the sea" mentality, accept their Jewish neighbours' right to self determination. They would be reacting to Iran's growing influence in the region" bla bla bla. Can't you ever get past the generic rhetoric and make a REAL contribution to the debate?
israel would not elect Likud.or right wing fanatic government with lunatic Lieberman
Netanyahu-Lieberman-Ultra Orthodox coalition are harming israel.
You must have forgotten that Abbas was elected on a platform of peace, nonviolence, acceptance of Israel's right to exist, a just two state solution. Then, you seem to forget Israel thumbed their nose at Abbas for months...and then, and only then, did Hamas win parlementary elections. Facts do matter, cousin. Sorry.
That the negotiations are not going to hang up on posturing by either side. It seems this would be quite a change from the past, and to the credit of statesmanship that will be remembered by all.
Why don't we send Victor instead and we can be sure a war will start.
just as a little reminder of that any peace deal that could be reached would be rejected by half of the Pals anyway.
True, Abbas not only doesn't represent Palestinians in Gaza he doesn't even represent all Palestinians in the West Bank! In fact beyond the PLO Executive and Abbass' Fatah there is broad spectrum rejection for talks based upon the terms (or lack of) dictated by the US. The list includes Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, (Ramallah based) Palestinian Peoples' Party, Islamic Jihad, Al-Ahrar, and many prominent Palestinians figures have issued public statements rejecting circumstances leading into the talks; the Quartet issued a document laying the foundations for talks that co-incided with the invitations from Washington but the US rejected the document.
Why not bomb the talks then send in the commando's and put a few bullets in everyones's heads and claim "Israel has the right to defend itself" ....