Israels, Palestinians nod to indirect talks
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The Israelis and Palestinians finally agreed to put themselves back into an unwieldy process to end the decades-old Middle East feud after a 15-month hiatus.
The two sides have agreed to begin indirect talks brokered by the United States, U.S. special envoy George Mitchell announced Monday evening.
The development marked the first time for the two Middle East neighbors to conduct peace negotiations since U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office in early 2009.
Indirect talks after long deadlock
The U.S. envoy said in a statement that he is "pleased" that the two sides have adopted the U.S. proposal for proximity talks.
"We've begun to discuss the structure and scope of these talks and I will return to the region next week to continue our discussions," Mitchell, in his latest tour to the Middle East, said in the statement.
While expressing hope that the indirect parley would lead to direct negotiations between the two Middle East foes, he urged all parties concerned "to refrain from any statements or actions which may inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of these talks."
Regarding the proximity talks, which might see Mitchell act as the intermediary shuttling between Israel and the Palestinian territories, Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the PLO's executive committee, said on Sunday that the talks would be restricted by a time limit of four months and focus on the borders and security concerns.
Mitchell announced the start of the proximity talks shortly after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Israel for a four- day visit to the Jewish state and the Palestinian territories. Biden is scheduled to meet with top Israeli and Palestinian officials before he leaves for Jordan on Thursday.
The commencement of indirect talks ended a 15-month deadlock since negotiations broke down when the Jewish state launched a destructive military offensive against the Gaza Strip in late 2008, which left about 1,400 Palestinians dead in the coastal enclave.
The Obama administration has long been trying to push the two sides back to the negotiation table. Yet gaping gaps on the issues of settlements and East Jerusalem blocked their return to the peace track, and even once strained the U.S.-Israeli ties.
As a transitional measure, the U.S. recently proposed that Israel and the Palestinians first conduct indirect talks, which would pave the way to face-to-face negotiations. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Sunday gave green light to the indirect negotiations, after Arab League's nod to the U.S. proposal.
Tough jobs and room for optimism
But as the hard nuts still lies in the way of the negotiation, Israel, the Palestinians and the mediator U.S. are facing tough jobs in the future proximity talks.
In regard with the coming talks, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday that Israel will stick to the principle of two states for two peoples and the Road Map, but he insisted on the recognition of the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, a position harshly criticized by the Palestinian side.
"Our goal is to reach an agreement in which both states live side-by-side in mutual respect, with the recognition of the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, and the recognition of a Palestinian state," local news service Ynet quoted Barak as speaking before Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of Knesset (Israeli parliament).
More embarrassingly, the parties can not find a solution on the Jewish settlement issue yet, which is seen as one of the main obstacles in the peace process for the last year.
The Netanyahu administration announced last November a 10-month partial freeze of settlement construction in the West Bank, which Israel dubbed a goodwill gesture aimed to help resume peace talks. Yet the Palestinians dismissed the move as insincere, and have stressed that no direct talks are possible before Israel completely halts Jewish construction both in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, the Arab-dominated section of the holy city which they claim as the capital of their future state.
Just hours before Biden's landing in Israel, a news report came into light that Israel has authorized the construction of 112 apartments in the West Bank settlement of Betar Illit near Bethlehem.
Though Israeli Defense Ministry said that the project was approved in former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's term and has already started before last November's order of settlement freeze, it instantly aroused condemnation from the other side.
A top Palestinian negotiator said on Monday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cast doubts on Israel's readiness to resume negotiations with the Palestinians, and raised the issue of Israel's approval over 112 settlement apartments during his talk with Mitchell.
Abbas told Mitchell that if every session by the Israeli cabinet would produce "an announcement of (new) settlements and unilateral measures, this casts doubts on everything we are doing, " according to Saeb Erekat, the chief PLO negotiator.
In the meanwhile, Netanyahu said last month that Israel must retain control of the Jordan River Valley, which means that the Palestinians would not have a shared border with Jordan and that Israel would oversee all cross-border security.
But as a standstill has been lasting for over a year, the launch of the indirect talks still leaves some room for optimism over the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
"The fact that these are indirect talks doesn't prevent the leaders of the two sides from making courageous decisions that are required in order to reboot the peace process," said Uri Savir, director-general of Israel's Peres Center for Peace.
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