Palestine rejects Israel settlement compromise

Palestine has rejected an Israeli proposal to renew a moratorium on settlement construction, plunging frozen peace talks between the two sides into ever greater uncertainty.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, had offered to extend a partial freeze on Jewish building in the West Bank, but only in exchange for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
Within minutes of the proposal being made public, Palestinian officials had rejected it out of hand. The offer will be seen by some observers as unrealistic from the outset.
The Palestinian Authority, while acknowledging Israel’s right to exist, has long resisted calls to recognize it as a Jewish state, saying such a move would discriminate against Israel’s large Arab minority and prejudice negotiations over the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees.
The stand-off leaves the prospect of a resolution to the settlement row looking as remote as ever. Peace negotiations have quickly foundered after Israel declined to prolong the partial settlement freeze, which expired in the last week of September.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, has threatened to abandon the talks if settlement construction is not halted again, although he agreed last week to give the United States a month to find ways of resolving the impasse. In an effort to break the impasse, the United States has offered Israel financial, political and security guarantees if it agrees to a one-off extension of the moratorium by two months. Meanwhile, Palestinian officials say they could reverse history by seeking to have the West Bank placed under international trusteeship if the peace talks fail as a last resort. The suggestion, which would see a return of foreign administration in the Holy Land for the first time since the British mandate of Palestine expired in 1948, is unlikely to win international support.

Palestine rejects Israel settlement compromise

Palestine has rejected an Israeli proposal to renew a moratorium on settlement construction, plunging frozen peace talks between the two sides into ever greater uncertainty.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, had offered to extend a partial freeze on Jewish building in the West Bank, but only in exchange for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
Within minutes of the proposal being made public, Palestinian officials had rejected it out of hand. The offer will be seen by some observers as unrealistic from the outset.
The Palestinian Authority, while acknowledging Israel’s right to exist, has long resisted calls to recognize it as a Jewish state, saying such a move would discriminate against Israel’s large Arab minority and prejudice negotiations over the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees.
The stand-off leaves the prospect of a resolution to the settlement row looking as remote as ever. Peace negotiations have quickly foundered after Israel declined to prolong the partial settlement freeze, which expired in the last week of September.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, has threatened to abandon the talks if settlement construction is not halted again, although he agreed last week to give the United States a month to find ways of resolving the impasse. In an effort to break the impasse, the United States has offered Israel financial, political and security guarantees if it agrees to a one-off extension of the moratorium by two months. Meanwhile, Palestinian officials say they could reverse history by seeking to have the West Bank placed under international trusteeship if the peace talks fail as a last resort. The suggestion, which would see a return of foreign administration in the Holy Land for the first time since the British mandate of Palestine expired in 1948, is unlikely to win international support.

Don’t miss chance for peace in ME, pleads Obama

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Wednesday pleaded with Israelis and Palestinians not to let slip a fleeting opportunity for peace, as he launched a landmark Middle East diplomatic initiative.

“This moment of opportunity may not soon come again,” Obama warned after holding separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan.

“They cannot afford to let it slip away. Now is the time for leaders of courage and vision to deliver the peace that their people deserve.”

Obama promised to put the “full weight” of the United States behind the effort to forge peace between Israelis and Palestinians in direct talks between the two sides that begin at the State Department on Thursday.

“If both sides do not commit to these talks in earnest, then the long-standing conflict will only continue to fester and consume another generation. This we simply cannot allow.

“We know there will be moments that test our resolve. We know that extremists and enemies of peace will do everything in their power to destroy this effort,” Obama said.

Despite his vow to shepherd the peace talks, Obama warned however that the United States could not simply impose a solution to the decades-long conflict.

“Ultimately the United States cannot impose a solution and we cannot want it more than the parties themselves,” Obama said.

The US leader, who is investing substantial political and diplomatic capital in the effort, also said Israeli and Palestinian leaders had said they believed a deal could be struck within his one-year timeline.

He said that the talks would aim to resolve all of the most testing “final status” issues between the two sides.

“The goal is a settlement, negotiated between the parties that ends the occupation which began in 1967 and results in the emergence of an independent, democratic, and viable Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with a Jewish state of Israel and its other neighbours.”

Peace Deal Possible in 6 Months: Mahmoud Abbas

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he has told Israel’s defense minister a peace deal could be reached in six months if Israel freezes settlement construction during that time.

Abbas says he made the proposal when he spoke on the phone with Ehud Barak three weeks ago. Abbas told Israel’s Haaretz daily in an interview published Wednesday that he has not received an Israeli response.

Israel has rejected Palestinian and U.S. demands that it freeze settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, war-won lands the Palestinians want for a future state.

Israel has announced restrictions on new housing construction in the West Bank, but Abbas says he won’t resume peace talks without a freeze that also covers east Jerusalem.

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Peace Deal Possible in 6 Months: Mahmoud Abbas was first posted on December 16, 2009 at 4:15 pm.