ISRAELI FM: PERMANENT PEACE WITH PALESTINIANS IMPOSSIBLE
Washington, 3 Safar 1435/6 December 2013 (MINA) – The Israeli foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman said reaching a permanent peace deal is impossible, media reported when he was sworn in as chief of Israely diplomacy again in November.
Lieberman stated it in a special discussion with UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon. He also exchanged views on the regional situation, a short read-out of their meeting at the UN Headquartes, on Wednesday night in New York.
Meanwhile, Ban stresses the need for both parties to create the conditions conducive to a resumption of meaningful negotiations. Anadolu Agency reported as quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).
United Nations (UN) Chief, Ban Ki-moon reiterated his belief that negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians are the best way to achieve a two-state solution.
During the discussion Ban stressed the need for both parties “to create the conditions conducive to a resumption of meaningful negotiations, and encouraged Israel to take steps to ease the situation in Gaza,” a written UN statement said.
A far-right politician and head of the Yisrael Beitenu party, which is allied with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, Lieberman has been an outspoken critic of the US-sponsored peace talks with Palestinians ever since their resumption in July after a three-year pause.
Lieberman was acquitted of corruption and fraud charges in early November by a Jerusalem court, which could further complicate peace talks, US media had reported.
Many consider Lieberman the most controversial politician in Israel as he is known, among other things, for his call for Israeli air strikes against Iranian and Egyptian cities.
US Secretary of State John Kerry also warned Israel could face a third Palestinian uprising (Intifada) if they failed to get on the negotiation track.
Israeli–Palestinian peace talks in 2013
Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in 2013 began on July 29, following an attempt by United States Secretary of State John Kerry to restart the peace process.
Martin Indyk was appointed by the U.S. to oversee the negotiations. Currently at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., during the Clinton administration he served as US ambassador to Israel, and was assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs.
The negotiations were scheduled to last up to nine months to reach a final status to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by mid-2014. They started in Washington, DC and will then move to the King David Hotel in Jerusalem and then to Hebron.
Before the peace talks began, both sides offered a gift. Palestine offered to put on hold international recognition as a state while Israel offered the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners, all of whom have been in Israeli jails since before the 1993 Oslo I Accord.
Commenters have however pointed out that Israel had already promised to release these same 104 Palestinians, back in 1999 under the Sharm el-Sheikh Memorandum, but never did. Critics also worry that Israel will simply quietly re-arrest the potentially released Palestinians, and state that Israel is using the slow release to hold the negotiations hostage and that the main goal of the release is to bolster Israel’s image.
The last meeting was on December 4, Saeb Erekat told John Kerry that the peace talks with Israel were faltering and urged Kerry to salvage them. Also, an Israeli newspaper reported that Israel was prepared to handle 2000 hectares (5000 acres, or 7 sq. mi.) of land to the Palestinians to show that it was prepared to allow Palestinian projects on these lands. The land had been privately owned by Palestinians but militarily occupied by Israel.(T/P04/P03)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
