White House oversees Middle East peace talks

Abbas joined Netanyahu in declaring that it was time to seize the moment. “We don't want blood to be shed, neither that of Palestinians nor of Israelis. We want peace, we want normal life. We want to live as partners and neighbors,” he said.

But Israel, Abbas added, needs to give the Palestinians tangible signs, including freeing all Palestinian prisoners and freezing all settlement construction on land the Palestinians want for their future state.

The talks will face their first test within weeks, at the end of September, when the Israeli government's declared slowdown in settlement construction is slated to end.

Palestinians have said a renewal of settlement construction will torpedo the talks. The Israeli government is divided over the future of the slowdown, and a decision to extend it could split Netanyahu's hawkish coalition.

Netanyahu has given no indication so far that it will continue beyond the deadline. Netanyahu said his government's decision on a 10-month freeze that would end in September remained in effect.

Direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations broke off nearly two years ago, in December 2008, and the Obama administration spent its first 20 months in office coaxing the two sides back to the bargaining table. Despite the success in launching the talks, gaps between the sides are wide, distrust remains after years of violence and deadlock, and expectations are low.

But American officials are hopeful they can at least get the two sides to agree to a second round of talks, likely to be held in the second week of September.

That could be followed by another meeting between Obama, Netanyahu and Abbas on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly near the end of the month in New York. The stated goal is to reach a final peace settlement within one year.

After listening to the Mideast leaders he convened Wednesday night, Obama pronounced himself carefully optimistic. “I am hopeful, cautiously hopeful, but hopeful,” he said.

1|2

PrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email