The time frame that the Palestinians have
allowed for talks with Israel in Amman under Jordanian auspices expires
on Thursday. According to diplomatic sources associated with the Middle
East Quartet - the United States, United Nations, European Union and
Russia - last-minute efforts are underway to head off the talks'
collapse, but the prospects seem slim.
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| Photo by: AFP |
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
representative to the Amman talks, Isaac Molho, met on Wednesday in the
Jordanian capital for a fifth time with the head of the Palestinian
negotiating team Saeb Erekat - but at this point no formula has been
reached that would enable the talks to continue. Erekat made it clear
that because Israel has not presented its position on the issue of
borders with a Palestinian state, from the Palestinians' standpoint, the
talks have ended.
After
Wednesday's meeting, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, under
whose auspices the five rounds of discussions have taken place, issued a
statement in which he did his best to avoid proclaiming the talks a
failure. He said the results of the discussions are being evaluated and
that consultations would be undertaken with Israel, the Palestinians and
members of the Quartet over a future course.
Before the latest Molho-Erekat meeting,
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met in Amman with
Jordanian King Abdullah and told the monarch from his standpoint talks
with Israel had run their course without results. Abbas said that Israel
had refused to recognize the borders of a Palestinian state, but if
there was a change there was nothing preventing a return to the
negotiating table.
Abbas said he would consult with Arab allies
next week to figure out how to proceed. He is under pressure to extend
the Jordanian-mediated exploratory talks, which the international
community hopes will lead to a resumption of long-stalled formal
negotiations on establishing a Palestinian state.
Israel said on Wednesday that it is willing
to continue the dialogue. Abbas did not close the door to continued
meetings, saying he will decide after consultations with the Arab League
on February 4. A Palestinian walkout could cost Abbas international
sympathy at a time when he seeks global recognition of a Palestinian
state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
The gaps between the leaders are vast, and
Abbas apparently believes there is no point in returning to formal
negotiations without assurances, such as marking the pre-1967 war lines
as a basis for border talks and halting Israeli settlement construction.
Netanyahu says everything should be discussed in negotiations and
insists he is serious about reaching a deal by year's end.
Though there have been talks off and on, the
last substantive round was in late 2008, when Israel informally
proposed a deal and the Palestinians did not respond. When Netanyahu
took office the next year, he took the proposal, including a state in
most of the territories the Palestinians claim, off the table. A round
of talks started in late 2010 by President Barack Obama quickly
sputtered over the settlement issue.
Visiting European Union foreign policy chief
Catherine Ashton has also scheduled two separate meetings with Abbas
and Netanyahu to try to salvage the exploratory talks. Two officials
involved in the contacts said she is trying to put together a package of
Israeli incentives that would keep the Palestinians from walking away.
"We need to keep talks going and increase the potential of these talks to become genuine negotiations," Ashton said.
Before his meeting with Ashton, Netanyahu
said, "We've been trying to make sure that the talks between us and the
Palestinians will continue. That is our desire."
© Haaretz Daily Newspaper
For more information on the history of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict and subsequent negotiations, please read The Palestine Nakba, available from Zed Books
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