Netanyahu: PA has made strategic choice to delay peace talks

by the palestinians: "the palestinian authority is making a mistake that they must understand: there will not be a real solution without direct negotiations with israel..." this doesn't sound like it's in reference to negotiations...but rather to the idea of unilaterally declaring a palestinian state. which is likely to be coalescing around the growing support it seems to be getting in europe. i think bibi is fully aware that this would open up a whole new ball game...and one in which israel would certainly lose the advantage it now enjoys.

The status quo is ideal for Israel. They profit too much to want change. "Peace talks" are something that Israel uses to placate America and the EU. The idea is that if Israel seeks peace talks, then Israel is seeking peace. This is far from the truth, but only the Palestinians seem to have noticed. You really can't blame the Palestinians for declining to play the dupe in Israels game playing. Israel and the Palestinians are not on an equal footing. Israel controls every aspect of the Palestinians lives and the Palestinians are powerless to change this. For America to say that peace is for the Israelis and Palestinians to work out is the height of stupidity. Peace must be forced on Israel, who will scream and choke on it every inch of the way. This force must come from America. All that is needed is a leader with intelligence, courage, and integrity. We may have a long wait.

Netanyahu doesn't want to pickup the negotiations from where they ended with Olmert as the Palestinian side is asking because Netanyahu intends on offering far less than his predecessor. The Palestinians obviously aren't interested in starting negotiations from Step 1 all over again with Netanyahu like they are forced to do everytime an Israeli government falls in early elections or is ousted from power. That is absurd.

Palis dont want to talk because of the settlements being contrsucted. This is simply obfuscation. Any settlements that are built, will all be subject to final status. Some may have to be dismantled, some may not. But if the palis dont want to talk, they will in the end have little of what they want. No state except that which they can convince the Un they deserve. For not talking they will shoot themselves in the foot, and jerusalem will not be part of any Un decision. The peace train is leaving the station, palis can climb on board and begin negotiating or they can stay in the station and watch the train leave. It may be a long time before the peace train ever passes this way again.

What a shame they can't come up with ways to make procrastination more audience-friendly. Yaaaaawwwwnnnn! Wish they'd supply cushions and eye-masks. Wake us up when y'all start talking.

No violence worth mentioning in the main stream press you mean. Rockets continue to fall in the south... and the arsenal is getting better. Russian made rockets instead of Kasams... but shhhhh... lets not talk about it...

so Netanyahu has done it again... he concedes part of what the PA demands, knows they will reject it, and then points the finger at the PA for refusing to resume talks... he knew from the very outset that his temporary settlement freeze that didn't include East Jerusalem, where Palestinians are being kicked out of homes only to see Jews ushered into them, would not get the PA to the table. What can really be achieved in talks while Israel still acts unilaterally in East Jerusalem?

I have noticed both "Palestinians" and Pakistanis talk much about how they desire peace, but neither will walk-the-talk (btw, Pakistan's PM revealed his own ideology "Peace with India is impossible" this past August to a paper printed for DC-area residents of India-origin; "Palestinian" idea of Israel is about 2 or 3 MAGNITUDE ORDERS worse than Pakistani idea of India).

A solution will be reached when both sides negotiate a settlement. Yes, N. is right with this - but it's a truly trivial statement. More importantly, one might argue that the outside support - for both sides - has delayed a settlement in the past. This is of course what N. and A. focus on.

Israel has not made proper concessions - a partial, freeze-kind-of-thing, in the West Bank and business as usual (i.e. continued ethnic cleansing) in Jerusalem. Peace is not just about rhetoric. The PA have made Israeli curtailment of all settlement building a precondition of talks. Israel has not obliged and continues to violate international law. End of story.

negotiate for all arabs claiming to be palestinians [ he himself was an egyptian ] abbas has no chance and the mistake of the bush adminstration was to ask for elections . once they were lost by the plo the game ended forever

As long as Israeli makes unilateral concessions like the building freeze, which cause domestic unrest and weaken the ruling coalition, the Palestinians have every incentive to avoid negotiations. They believe time is on their side and they may be right.

Netanyahu accuses the PA of putting up barriers to negotiations whilst he continues to appease an extremist section of his population (Settlers) who refuse to acknowledge the right of Palstinians to live in peace and continue to build illegal colonial settlements for Jews only. What cheek.

PA's decision is NOT to make peace- period

Since the Gaza war, there has not been any major escalation on the violence front from Gaza or the West Bank, unfortunately nor have been any progress in the peace front! I hope this is not use as an argument for those who believe that violence is the only way to achieve some progress towards a Palestinian state.

Starting talks with the Palestinians means only talking with part of them - the consequence of the Gaza unilateral withdrawal, knowing the risk that Hamas would take over and there would be no talks with them. Claiming its the PA that's delaying strategically is sheer nonsense. The charade that Netanyahu is playing with the so called settlement freeze is just that. Latest survey figures for house construction in the W Bank show an average of 1167 housing units for every 100,00 settlers approved for construction since the freeze was announced, as compared to Central Bureau of Statistics figures of 836 units for every 100,000 Israeli citizens within Israel. A10 month freeze isn't serious. Its a cynical calculation based on when President Obama has to prepare for re-election and it includes the estimation of what else he's got to contend with until then and that he can't afford a showdown with Netanyahu - even though that's about the only way we'll get out of this abyss.