U.S. officials: No breakthroughs expected on peace talks
Mitchell to meet Abbas, Netanyahu; Officials say they are not disheartened, despite lack of progress.
By Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu George Mitchell Mahmoud Abbas Israel newsU.S. special envoy George Mitchell will hold additional separate meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, even though it appears that his efforts to restart talks between the two sides have failed once again.
Top U.S. officials told Haaretz Saturday that they had low expectations of any major developments. "No breakthrough is expected on the resumption of the negotiations during this visit," a source said.
The senior U.S. officials said they were still working on a formula that could restart talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. They say Mitchell is not carrying a letter of assurances to Israel and the Palestinians.
"We are frustrated but not disheartened," a senior official said. "No breakthrough is expected but we are continuing with our efforts. There are still things we have not tried."
The Americans said Mitchell would continue in his efforts and did not plan to resign.
On the Israeli side, too, officials have low expectations. Netanyahu stressed to Mitchell during their meeting Thursday that the prime minister would commit to a series of goodwill gestures but would not carry them out unless the Palestinians announce that they are returning to the negotiating table.
"The key to the resumption of talks is not with us but with the Palestinians," said a senior Israeli official familiar with Mitchell's recent talks.
On Friday, shortly after Mitchell concluded a meeting with Abbas in Ramallah, the Prime Minister's Bureau issued a statement calling on the Palestinians to resume negotiations unconditionally.
The statement was issued in response to comments made by the Palestine Liberation Organization's chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat.
Erekat said Friday the Palestinians insisted that talks will resume only if there is a full freeze in settlement construction, while the Americans are trying to convince them otherwise. Erekat said, however, that despite the disagreement with the Americans on this issue there was no crisis in relations.
According to the Israeli statement, "Prime Minister Netanyahu would like to reiterate that Israel is not posing any conditions for embarking on negotiations while the Palestinians are the ones who are torpedoing the restarting of the diplomatic process by setting preconditions that they have never demanded in the past from any Israeli government."
Meanwhile, Palestinian daily Al-Ayam reported that Israel had withdrawn its pledge to undertake goodwill gestures so Abbas would agree to return to the negotiating table.
Among the gestures considered were the release of Palestinian prisoners, the lifting of roadblocks, the transfer of some of Area B to Palestinian security control, and some easing of the siege on the Gaza Strip.
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There is no chance of a breakthrough now that the PA has made it clear that they want all of Jerusalem for their capital, not just east Jerusalem! The Oslo farse needs to end, and the PA terrorists in suits eliminated.
At some point in time, the peace efforts will no longer apply. The Hope for a Two-State Solution will no longer be viable. Because the settlements will have reached critical mass on the West Bank. Also, the Arab peace proposal from 2002, may also get recinded by the Arab League meeting in March. Time is an issue.
These (entirely gratuitous) public statements by "top US offcials" may well indicate that some real progress is being made behind the scenes.
One week we read about the 10 Netanyahu preconditions for peace. The next week Netanyahu is calling for talks without preconditions. One week Israel announces a "goodwill" gesture while simultaneously announcing and carrying out dozens of home demolitions and announcing so many exceptions to the gesture, it would have better PR to make no gesture at all. And the Israeli government wonders why the Palestinians and American government is frustrated. If there are supposed to be no preconditions, drop your dozens and stop issuing press releases about what you won't do. If Israel wants Abbas and the Palestinians to risk overthrow by negotiating, show them it might have some value. None is apparent now. Try risking your own governmental coalition by offering something that is believably in good faith, not so filled with loopholes you could sail an aircraft carrier through.
If the American government wants a positive response from Israel regarding peace, they will have to show Israel that they are serious. The way to start is by putting all American aid and support on the table. Israel should learn to support themselves anyway. This is something they have never done and it will go a long way in changing Israeli attitudes (even if they don't like to admit it}.
The extremist Muslims are professionalized using human shields for gain. What talk? The blunder of the Arab Muslim?s word history was not to stand by their cousin, the Jews, when Hitler was slaughtering them as if the Muslim were not next in line. When Jerusalem was in the hand of the Arab, it was ignored and looked a less holy only to be seen today as a holy, clean and a source of abundance. As today, what is the Muslims world fear from the Jews of Israel that Jerusalem was their birth land to start with? No one could deny that Jerusalem was the birth land of the Jews from the beginning. The mentality if my mother weeps let all other mothers weep. This is a wrong mentality that the Palestinian believes. The common ground is forgiveness and to let all the Arabs borders open to the Jew to honor them and protect them because they are the children of Abraham. God went out of his way to let Moses free them from the bondage of Farah. The Jew is the core of who we are as Christians, Muslims and Jews. I profoundly believe that government of Israel has to do its part by changing the main core of its Zion dream because it leads to a timeless killing and hate. The strength of a nation is in its power to make peace.