Tag Archive for peace talks

| July 2, 2013
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It’s Official: Kerry says Israeli settlements not obstacle to peace

Visiting US Sec of St Kerry rejects idea that Israel’s ‘settlement activity’ is preventing resumption of peace talks.

 

By Israel Today Staff

 

The Palestinian Authority and its supporters around the world regularly single out Jewish “settlements” on the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria as, if not the sole, then certainly the primary obstacle to peace.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State, John Kerry - Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO

PM Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State, John Kerry – Photo: Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO

 

But US Secretary of State John Kerry said before his departure from the region earlier this week that, in fact, Jewish settlements are not the primary obstacle to peace. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| June 29, 2013
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Amman Report: 4-way peace summit to be announced

Jordanian media reports Israel capitulates to advance peace-talks by agreeing to freeze settlements, release prisoners & define borders ahead of peace talks, according to unconfirmed Palestinian sources.

By Elior Levy

Jordanian media reported that a joint Israeli, Palestinian, American and Jordanian summit will possibly be announced soon, in a move which will signal the restarting of the stalled peace process.

נתיהו וקרי, מוקדם יותר השבוע (צילום: משה מילנר, לע"מ)

Netanyahu, Kerry earlier this week – Photo: Moshe Milner, GPO

According to the reports, which cite Palestinian sources, the Americans told the Palestinian side on Friday that Israel agreed to their preconditions of settlement construction freeze, prisoners’ release and defining the borders on which basis the negotiations will be held, though these will be implemented gradually, and not all at once. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| June 21, 2013
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PM Netanyahu: The Arabs Want it All, All of ‘Palestine’

PM Netanyahu tells Presidential Conference that peace will never be possible until the Arabs agree to recognize the Jewish State.

By Elad Benari

 

Israel wants peace, but it is not willing to sacrifice its security for it, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Thursday evening at the closing session of the Presidential Conference.

 

“For peace to be maintained, we must be strong in the present and in the future. Because a peace accord that compromises our security will not endure, and I will never compromise the security of the State of Israel and its citizens,” said Netanyahu.

“Therefore, when we talk about ‘tomorrow’ I talk about a tomorrow of peace, security and also prosperity.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| June 15, 2013
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Israeli Defense Minister says Arab League initiative is just another spin

During his visit to Washington, Ya’alon says peace talks should resume immediately and without preconditions, initiative is another dictation.

Defense Minister Ya’alon added how he’s unimpressed with Assad’s victories in Syria

By Yitzhak Benhorin

Washington – Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon slammed the Arab League peace initiative in his speech at the Washington Institute in the US, and called it a ‘spin.’

Defense Cheifs Ya'alon & Hagel - Photo Yaron Brener

Defense Cheifs Ya’alon & Hagel – Photo: Yaron Brener

Ya’alon claimed the initiative is a dictation, and said Israel is always willing to return to the negotiation table, barring preconditions and dictations.

Earlier this week Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the time has come to end the “squabbling over preconditions” and resume negotiations. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 14, 2013
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Abbas aide: Quiet building freeze will open avenues for talks

 

Senior Palestinian negotiator (in doubletalk rhetoric) Nabil Shaath: “We spend 60% of our expenses on security that is not for our safety but for your protection. I have never seen a convict spend the penny they earn to protect their jailers.”

By Daniel Siryoti, Shlomo Cesana, Efrat Forsher and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Senior Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath warned on Thursday that “if the status quo remains, we will not be able to prevent another intifada.” Speaking to Israeli media outlets at his office in Ramallah, Shaath told reporters that a “quiet freeze [of settlement construction]” would pave the way to restarting the peace process.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 11, 2013
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85% of Israelis oppose releasing prisoners to commence peace-talks

 

New poll shows Palestinian demand to release detainees from prison as a precondition to appear at  peace-talks, “unacceptable” to majority of Israeli Jews.

By GIL HOFFMAN

 

The Palestinian Authority’s demand that Israel release terrorists from prison as a precondition for peace talks is unacceptable to 85 percent of Israeli Jews, according to a Smith Research poll sponsored by the Knesset’s Land of Israel caucus.

Palestinians in Ramallah hold prisoners' pictures

Palestinians in Ramallah hold prisoners’ pictures – Photo: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

Asked whether they would support releasing terrorists as a gesture to bring the Palestinians to the negotiating table, 57% said they would strongly oppose it, 28% said were against it, 13% said they supported it and just 2% said they were strongly in favor of such a move.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| June 5, 2013
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For 12th time Abu Bluff threatens to dismantle Palestinian Authority

PA minister for civilian affairs says Palestinian President Abbas is giving Kerry until June 20 to revive the peace talks….or else.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
 

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to dismantle the PA should US Secretary of State John Kerry fail to “salvage the peace process,” a senior PA official said Tuesday.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - Photo Mark Israel Sellem

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: Mark Israel Sellem

Hussein al-Sheikh, the PA minister for civilian affairs, said that Abbas has informed Kerry that the PA’s functional role would end if current efforts to revive the peace process did not succeed.

“Israel, as an occupying force, would then have to assume full responsibility [over the Palestinian population],” Sheikh told the PA’s Voice of Palestine radio station.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 2, 2013
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Abbas dictates pre-conditions to Netanyahu: Free more terrorists, then we’ll talk

PA leader once again demands the release of terrorists who have murdered Jews as a precondition to ‘peace’ talks

By Tommy Mueller

 

 

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has called for the release of 120 more Palestinian terrorists jailed by Israel as a precondition for resuming peace talks. Washington is reportedly urging Israel to seriously consider the demand.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - Photo Mark Israel Sellem

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas – Photo Mark Israel Sellem

But, Israelis are likely to have a real problem with this. Among the 120 detainees Abbas wants freed are many who have directly murdered Israeli Jewish men, women and children. Relatives of the victims have warned that these murderers, like the many released before them, will return to violence if set free. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| May 31, 2013
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Palestinians & US upset by Israel’s housing construction in east Jerusalem

Once again Erekat accuses Israel of sabotaging peace efforts, while maintaining precondition demands to begin talks.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF, KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

 

Israeli officials on Thursday tried to douse a diplomatic fire Channel 10 ignited with its report about two building projects in Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem – of 1,100 units – that have been in the pipeline for years.

Construction in Har Homa Photo: Courtesy

Construction in Har Homa Photo: Courtesy

These east Jerusalem housing units are a real and official destruction of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to revive the peace process, Chief PLO Negotiator Saeb Erekat said Thursday.

In response, Israeli officials noted that no new approvals had been given for east Jerusalem housing and that the Palestinians understood this.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| May 30, 2013
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Palestinian leader under int’l pressure to enter peace-talks

Aides reveal Mahmoud Abbas is torn between alienating Washington & Western countries or public backlash over his dropping settlement freeze as a precondition to begin negotiating.

Associated Press

 

The Palestinian president has told advisers that as the US tries to restart Mideast peace talks, he is under intense international pressure to return to negotiations with Israel and drop demands for a Jewish settlement freeze in the West Bank, officials said Wednesday.

Kerry, Abbas in Ramallah – Photo: AFP

In a closed meeting, Mahmoud Abbas lamented his difficult choice: Rebuff the Americans and alienate Washington, or cave in and face an uproar at home. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| May 28, 2013
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PA chief negotiator Erekat demonstrates Palestinians flimsy grasp of democracy

 

Palestinian officials have repeatedly claimed Netanyahu is the one opposing peace on Arab terms (returning to ’67 lines, releasing prisoners, permitting 5.5 mil Arab ‘refugees’ to return to Israel instead of moving to Palestine).

Apparently, Erekat has failed to grasp that Israel is an actual democracy state, where its leader speaks for those who put him in office.

By Ryan Jones

 

 

At the World Economic Forum in Jordan this week, Israeli President Shimon Peres gushed about the peace process, US Secretary of State John Kerry gushed about the peace process, and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas…well, he used the word peace, though it’s debatable as to what was his end goal. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| May 26, 2013
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Arab League nothing less than League of illusions

Op-ed:
Saudi peace initiative was actually introduced by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. The Arab League’s actions have always failed. Its initiatives to intervene in Syria failed, as in North Africa, Iraq and Lebanon.

Guy Bechor

 

Representatives of the Arab League are amending the “Saudi initiative” and turning it into a “peace” treaty with Israel. Certain elements in the Jewish state rushed to praise the idea, even going as far as claiming that the new initiative is important to Israel. Really?

Arab League conferenceThe Arab League does not exist in reality. The new initiative was actually introduced by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in order to increase Cairo’s influence in the Arab world. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| May 24, 2013
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Kerry Suggests Yet Another Freeze for Negotiations to Begin

U.S. Sec. of St. suggests Israel freeze construction if Israel seriously wants peace talks with the PA.

By Maayana Miskin

 

United States Secretary of State John Kerry has reportedly proposed that Israel freeze construction east of the 1949 armistice line if it wants to hold talks with the Palestinian Authority.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State, John Kerry - Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO

PM Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State, John Kerry – Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom, GPO

 

Kerry met Thursday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

It was not clear if Netanyahu responded favorably to Kerry’s suggestion of a new construction freeze. Israel formerly froze construction for several months in an attempt to bring the PA back to the negotiating table. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| May 23, 2013
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PA maintains preconditions to end settlement construction, release prisoners.

Large protest rally outside PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s office in Ramallah to demonstrate Washington’s perceived ‘Israel bias.’

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry met in Ramallah Thursday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and discussed with him ways of resuming the peace talks with Israel.

Palestinian protester holds a poster with a caricature of John Kerry in Ramallah May 23, 2013.

Palestinian protester holds a poster with a caricature of John Kerry in Ramallah May 23, 2013. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday reiterated his demand for a full cessation of settlement construction and the release of Palestinian prisoners before returning to the negotiating table with Israel. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| May 23, 2013
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Israel’s Knesset argues over peace process, as Kerry returns to Jerusalem

John Kerry returns to Jerusalem pushing new American initiative, but there’s deep divides in Israel’s new gov’t over how to handle peace process with Palestinians. 

By Ryan Jones

 

 

Israel’s government this week heatedly debated how and if to restart peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, as US Secretary of State John Kerry returned to the region to continue pushing the two sides back to the table.

U.S. Secretary of State John KerryMeeting with Kerry in Jerusalem on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel “wants to restart the peace talks with the Palestinians. …I hope the Palestinians want [this] as well…we ought to be successful for a simple reason: When there’s a will, we’ll find a way.” Continue Reading »

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