20 August 2010

Clinton Invites Israel, Palestinians to Restart Direct Talks

Says final-status issues can be resolved within one year

Secretary Clinton urged Israelis and Palestinians to commit to the talks in good faith and refrain from actions that would hinder peace efforts.

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington — The Obama administration has invited Israeli and Palestinian leaders to Washington to hold their first direct talks in nearly two years, and says it believes that all final-status issues that have stood in the way of ending the decades-old conflict in favor of a two-state solution can be resolved within one year.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced at the State Department August 20 that both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have been invited to Washington and that direct negotiations between the two sides would be relaunched on September 2.

“There have been difficulties in the past; there will be difficulties ahead. Without a doubt, we will hit more obstacles,” including efforts by some to derail the peace negotiations, Clinton said.

“But I ask the parties to persevere, to keep moving forward even through difficult times and to continue working to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region,” she said. The United States believes that the resolution of all long-standing disagreements between the two sides “can be completed within one year,” she said.

Abbas and Netanyahu will join President Obama, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II on September 1 for meetings and a dinner, followed by a trilateral meeting with Clinton on September 2 to restart the direct talks.

“As we move forward, it is important that actions by all sides help to advance our effort, not hinder it,” the secretary said. The direct negotiations “should take place without preconditions, and be characterized by good faith and a commitment to their success, which will bring a better future to all of the people of the region.”

The United Nations, Russia, the European Union and the United States, collectively known as the Middle East Quartet, issued a statement August 20 reaffirming their view that direct, bilateral negotiations to resolve final-status issues such as Israeli settlements, borders, security, the status of Jerusalem and the right of return for Palestinian refugees should “lead to 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 Israel and its other neighbors.”

The Quartet said it is determined to support the parties throughout the negotiating process and the implementation of a potential agreement, and believes that the talks “can be completed within one year.”

It also repeated its call for both sides to “observe calm and restraint, and to refrain from provocative actions and inflammatory rhetoric.”

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Quartet’s special envoy, has been invited to participate in the September 1 dinner at the White House.

Face-to-face talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in December 2008. In May, after a 19-month deadlock, Netanyahu and Abbas agreed to resume indirect contacts known as “proximity talks,” which have been facilitated by U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell.

Mitchell told reporters August 20 that an end to the conflict is “in the national security interest of the United States,” as well as in the interests of the parties and the broader Middle East region. The Obama administration is pursuing that goal “with patience, perseverance and determination,” and with the full participation of the Quartet and other allies, Mitchell said.

“We will be active participants,” he said, and “have indicated to both parties that, as necessary and appropriate, we will offer bridging proposals.” However, he emphasized that the talks will be direct bilateral negotiations and that any final decisions “will be made by the parties themselves.”

“We are patient. We are persevering. And we are determined. And we believe there is a basis for concluding a peace agreement in the region. That’s what we’re going to pursue,” he said.

Despite continued deep feelings of mistrust between the two sides and widespread skepticism due to previous failures to reach a final agreement, Mitchell said the alternative to seeking a negotiated peace settlement is to condemn Israelis and Palestinians to “never-ending conflict, never-ending difficulties.”

“We simply don’t believe that’s a proper basis for any country, and certainly not ours, the United States, on which to base its policy,” he said.

“Our hope is that there will be an agreement that will end the conflict for all time and will result in the establishment of a viable, democratic and independent state of Palestine living side by side in peace and security with Israel,” Mitchell said.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)