By JPOST.COM STAFF, 01/10/2010
PA says Israeli building in settlements equivalent to refusal to continue peace negotiations; Netanyahu tells Mitchell that Israel wants to continue direct talks; Egyptian FM says freeze not an important issue.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday told US envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell that the there will be no further peace negotiations with Israel as long as building in settlements continues, Israel Radio reported.
Mitchell met with Abbas in Ramallah on Friday after having met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in the hopes of finding a compromise that could save the talks which have stalled following Israel's decision earlier this week not to extend the 10-month moratorium on West Bank settlement building.
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Following Abbas's meeting with Mitchell, a Palestinian Authority spokesman said that no breakthrough to revive the talks had been made and that Israel's insistence on continuing construction in the settlements is preventing progress towards reaching a peace agreement.
Senior Palestinian Authority official Yasser Abed Rabbo added that Israel's refusal to halt settlement building is equivalent to a refusal to continue the peace talks which began early in September.
Earlier Friday, Netanyahu told Mitchell that Israel wants to continue negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
In his opening words, Netanyahu said: "We are making a joint effort with Senator Mitchell to continue talks with Abbas. We want to continue talks, and I want it."
"We have a mission for peace," Netanyahu added.
Also on Friday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit criticized the Palestinian Authority for its "insistence" on a moratorium on building in the settlements.
In an interview with London-based newspaper Al-Hayat, Aboul Gheit said waiting for a renewed freeze will only complicate peace talks, and that the most important issue is borders. Aboul Gheit also hinted that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas does not think a settlement freeze is essential.
The meetings with Mitchell come following reports on Thursday that US President Barack Obama had sent Israel a draft letter in which he offered security guarantees – including a continued Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley after the creation of a Palestinian state – if Israel in exchange re-instituted the moratorium on new settlement construction for 60 days.
A White House and a State Department official denied the existence of such a letter.
PLO Decides to Break Off Talks. Obama Still Hoping for Change
Tishrei 24, 5771, 02 October 10 08:00, by Gil Ronen
(Israelnationalnews.com)
The Executive Council of the PLO terrorist umbrella group that convened in Ramallah (near Ofra) Saturday issued a call to Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas to break off the direct talks with Israel if Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria is not refrozen. Direct talks began under American auspices less than one month before a self-imposed ten-month Israeli construction freeze in Judea and Samaria ended. During that time, Jews were not allowed to build homes for themselves in the Biblical heartland of the land of Israel while Arabs were free to build homes, and even began construction of an entire new city.
PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that “there will not be talks in the shadow of continued [Jewish] settlements and without a complete cessation of building [by Jews].” Abbas will meet Jordanian King Abdullah, and on Wednesday the matter will be discussed by the Arab League, which claims it has been putting off the debate on the matter in order to allow the sides to find a compromise.
Kadima party head Tzipi Livni reacted to the PLO decision Saturday by attacking Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. “Netanyahu knows that it is within his power to make the decisions that will make continued negotiations possible and that Kadima will support any decision that advances the talks, and strengthens Israel's security interests,” the Opposition leader stated. “Sabotaging the talks will deal a genuine blow to Israel's interests. Netanyahu should prefer Israel's true long term interests over all personal political ones.”
MK Ofir Akunis, head of the team that handles Likud's political statements, responded to the PLO's decision by saying: “The Palestinians are the obstacle to peace – not the freeze and not the thaw. The only reason for the stalling of the talks is a lack of will on the Palestinian side to reach peace with Israel.”
The current situation appears to spell failure for the United States' initiative to restart direct negotiations between Israel and the PA, kick-started with some fanfare in Washington one month ago. Still hoping to salvage the talks, President Barack Obama's Special Middle East Envoy George Mitchell left Jerusalem for Doha, Qatar on Friday where he met with officials Saturday. He is to travel to Cairo and Amman on Sunday.
"We continue to urge the parties to continue in these direct talks, and Senator Mitchell will be talking to leaders in the region to encourage them to continue to support this process," US State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley said Friday in a briefing.
www.IsraelNationalNews.com
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