Tag Archive for peace talks

Kerry tells Abbas: US considers Israeli settlements as ‘illegitimate’

 

U.S. Secretary of State Kerry says despite difficulties, both Abbas & PM Netanyahu committed to work toward peace deal.

By REUTERS, KHALED ABU TOAMEH
 

 

BETHLEHEM – US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel on Wednesday to limit settlement building, an issue that is weighing on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - Photo: AP

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: AP

Friction over the talks has risen this past week on the back of Israeli plans, announced in tandem with its release of 26 Palestinian prisoners, for some 3,500 new homes for settlers in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

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Leaked: U.S. to present Israeli-Palestinian peace plan

Zahava Gal-On, chairperson of Meretz says U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s plan is based on the 1967 borders with land swaps & will also be based on the Arab League Peace Initiative, which should bring about regional peace.

JERUSALEM — The United States will present its own peace plan to Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, a senior Knesset member told Israeli media.

Erekat , Kerry and Livni - Photo: Reuters-Jonathan Ernst

Erekat , Kerry and Livni – Photo: Reuters-Jonathan Ernst

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of his plan to intervene with his own draft agreement, after it appeared that staying on the sidelines did not help, Zahava Gal-On, chairman of the left-wing Meretz Party said in a statement Monday on the eve of Kerry’s scheduled visit to Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

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Netanyahu Angry over Palestinian Authority’s ‘Intransigence’

Binyamin Netanyahu sees “no change in the Palestinian position since 1993”.

The PM asks when will Abbas respond to his “Bar Ilan speech” with a “Bir Zeit speech”.

By Gil Ronen

 

“I see no change in the Palestinian position since 1993,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the Likud / Yisrael Beytenu Knesset faction Monday, according to Israel Hayom. In response to a question from MK Tzipi Hotovely, he said that he is not interested in an interim accord and that the negotiations are about a permanent agreement.

1993 is the year in which Israel signed the Oslo Accords with the PLO, allowing the terror umbrella group to establish an armed presence in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, and creating the Palestinian Authority. Continue Reading »

Kerry returns for talks as Palestinians threaten to walk away – AGAIN!

Palestinian negotiator Erekat reportedly resigns, again, but top PLO official denies rumor.

By HERB KEINON & KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit next week for talks on the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, even as senior Palestinian officials call for breaking off the talks due to Israel’s announcement of plans to build in Jerusalem and the settlement blocs.

Kerry votes with the other members of the United Nations Security Council on September 27, 2013.- Photo: REUTERS

Kerry votes with the other members of the United Nations Security Council on September 27, 2013.- Photo: REUTERS

PLO officials on Thursday called to halt the peace talks with Israel in response to continued settlement construction and Israeli “raids and assassinations” in the West Bank.

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Abbas: No Jewish Presence in the Jordan Valley

Palestinian Authority head: Israel will be to blame if peace talks fail over its demand to keep Jewish soldiers stationed in the Jordan Valley.

By Elad Benari

 

 

In his latest attack of Israel,  Chairman Mahmoud Abbas warned on Tuesday that Israel would be to blame if ongoing peace talks collapsed over its demand to keep military forces in the Jordan Valley.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: AFP

“We will not accept it, and if they (the talks) collapse, they (Israelis) will be the reason for the collapse, not us,” Abbas was quoted by AFP as having told the Baltic News Service during a visit to Lithuania. Continue Reading »

Latest Round of Palestinian-Israeli Peace Talks Deal with Water Rights

 

Newest round of peace talks opens in Jerusalem as Israel & Palestinians discuss the core issue of water rights.

By AFP

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators have held a new round of peace talks in Jerusalem, a Palestinian official said, saying it had focused on the issue of water resources.

Renewed Talks - Ynet

Monday’s session was attended by Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian negotiators Mohammed Shtayeh and Saeb Erakat, the official said.

The official did not elaborate, but the question of water rights is one of the core issues that must be settled in any peace deal.

Israel controls most of the underground water resources in the West Bank, and the Palestinians want a more equitable share of them. Continue Reading »

PLO official: Palestinians considering declaring peace talks a failure

PLO official Hanna Amireh accuses Israel of trying to “win time” & blame the Palestinians for the failure of the US-sponsored talks.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
 

 

The Palestinians are seriously considering declaring the failure of the peace talks with Israel, a senior PLO official said Wednesday.

Israeli, Palestinian delegations meet in Washington for iftar dinner, July 29, 2013.

Israeli, Palestinian delegations meet in Washington for iftar dinner, July 29, 2013. – Photo: REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Hanna Amireh, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said that this was one of the scenarios that were discussed during the last meeting of the Palestinian leadership.

Amireh accused Israel of seeking to “win time” and blame the Palestinians for the failure of the US-sponsored talks.

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Israeli Prime Minister: Peace Talks Are Going Nowhere

Prime Minister Netanyahu, during meetings with the heads of American Jewish organizations, reportedly commented that the current peace talks are stuck.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, during his visit to the United States this past week, that the peace talks with the Palestinian Authority are going nowhere.

According to a report on Friday in the Maariv daily newspaper, Netanyahu made the comments in closed meetings with the heads of American Jewish organizations.

Netanyahu reportedly repeated his position and that he is ready for a historic compromise with the Palestinian Authority, but added that “the problem was, and still is, their refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.” Continue Reading »

7 Israeli ministers urge Netanya to rethink release of Arab prisoners

 

 

7 rightist Israeli gov’t ministers unite against Palestinian prisoners’ release after 2 IDF soldiers were murdered.

Ministers write PM: ‘Convene cabinet as soon as possible’ 

By Moran Azulay

Though the chief of staff deemed it a “tragic coincidence,” right-wing ministers believe the murder of Sergeant Tomer Hazan and the shooting of Staff Sergeant Gal Kobi in Hebron prove the failure of the prisoner release for resumed peace talks equation.

Minister Bennett at Kobi’s funeral – Photo: Avishag Shaar-Yeshuv

In an unusual joint action, seven ministers addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a letter and demanded of him to convene the cabinet for a renewed debate over further releases of Palestinian prisoners. Continue Reading »

Israeli Minister Tells NYT: Time to “Annul the Oslo Accords”

In NYT op-ed, Danny Danon, a Likud MK & Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister says “2-State Solution” is dead, calls for an alternative “3-State Solution.”

By Ari Soffer

 

Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister has called on the Israeli government to “annul the Oslo Accords,” and adopt an alternative to the much-touted “Two State Solution” which would see the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

In an op-ed for the New York Times, MK Danny Danon insists that, twenty years after the signing of the Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, “The government of Israel must admit that we made a mistake and declare that the Oslo process has failed.” Continue Reading »

PA Leak: Israel to release 250 more prisoners

 

Unnamed Palestinian sources reported Israel close to approving the release of an additional 250 prisoners after the 104 it has already publicly agreed to free.

By Roi Kais

Israel is close to officially approving the release of an additional 250 Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian sources defined as “credible” told the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat.

Ramallah celebrates prisoners' release in August (Photo: AP)

Ramallah celebrates prisoners’ release in August – Photo: AP

Israel has already agreed to release 104 prisoners as part of the resumption of peace negotiations. Twenty-six of those prisoners were freed last month. The second phase of the prisoners’ release is scheduled for the end of October. Continue Reading »

U.S. official: Egyptian & Syrian unrest improves chances of success in peace talks

Fear of being engulfed by the regional turmoil motivates Palestinians & Israelis to reach peace agreement, says senior U.S. ST. Dep’t official.

By and Reuters

 

 

The turmoil in both Syria and Egypt is nudging Israelis and Palestinians toward peace, a United States official said on Friday, as Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Europe for talks on Middle East issues.

Kerry in Vilnius

US Secretary ofState John Kerry (l) is greeted in Vilnius by Lithuanian Defense Minister Juozas Olekas (c) and US Ambassador to Lithuania Deborah McCarthy. – Photo: AFP

 

Kerry’s three-day trip was originally intended to brief European and Arab diplomats on the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, but that objective is likely to be overshadowed by the ongoing crisis in Syria. Continue Reading »

PA minister announces: Next prisoners’ release by Israel in October

 

Following Israel’s August release of 26 convicted murderers the next group of jailed terrorists to be released will be on October 29. Minister Karaka says regardless of progress of Israel-PA peace talks.

Abbas suggests issue of borders hinges on talks

By: Roi Kais

Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Karaka said that the next Palestinian prisoners’ release as past of the peace talks’ resumption will take place on October 29.

According to Karaka, the next group of prisoners will be released regardless of diplomatic progress of the talks, adding that the prisoners will only be released to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Continue Reading »

Defense Minister Ya’alon: Israel needs to focus on deterrence, not peace deals

 

Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon met with settler leaders, saying future agreement with the Palestinian Authority is unlikely to include settlements’ eviction. Ya’alon, “Why should we cede land in exchange for simply hearing the word ‘peace’?”

By Israel Hayom Staff

 

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon met Tuesday with the leaders of the Judea and Samaria settler community and said that a future agreement with the Palestinians was unlikely to include the eviction of settlements. He added that Israel should focus on “creating deterrence, not peace deals.”

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Abbas reveals Israel-PA deal made to restart peace process

 

PA president says he agreed to avoid lobbying to int’l institutions after Israel OK’ed prisoner release.

By Roi Kais

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed Monday the circumstances of the deal that was made with Israel in order to renew the peace talks between the two sides.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - Photo Mark Israel Sellem

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: Mark Israel Sellem

Speaking to Fatah members in Ramallah, Abbas said that even before negotiations started, the US demanded that the Palestinians avoid lobbying in international intitutions.

Abbas also addressed the subject of Syria and said that he opposes any military strike from the US. “We will not have an Arab state bombed and we condemn the use of chemical weapons on either side. Continue Reading »