Obama urges Netanyahu to resume peace negotiations with Palestinians
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama spoke by telephone on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urged him to resume peace talks with Palestinians, the White House said in a statement.
The telephone call was part of regular consultations between the two leaders, the White House said, but came as US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the region to try to help restart talks that stalled in 2010.
"The President encouraged Prime Minister Netanyahu to continue to work with Secretary Kerry to resume negotiations with the Palestinians as soon as possible," the White House said, noting the leaders also talked about security issues in Egypt, Iran and Syria.
Kerry was set to hold another round of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Friday in an attempt to resume peace negotiations before his expected departure from the region, Israel Radio reported overnight Thursday.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday failed to win the backing of PLO and Fatah leaders for resuming peace talks with Israel.
Abbas convened the leaders in Ramallah to brief them on the outcome of his discussions with Kerry in Jordan this week. Kerry would likely leave the region on Friday empty-handed.
Abbas and Kerry met in Amman on Tuesday and Wednesday in the context of Kerry’s ongoing efforts to revive the stalled peace talks. Early on Thursday there was much speculation that the secretary of state would make an announcement on Friday morning of an agreement to begin negotiations.
After hearing Kerry’s new ideas and proposals for resuming the peace talks, Abbas returned to Ramallah to seek the approval of members of the PLO Executive Committee and the Fatah Central Committee for returning to the negotiating table. Abbas already won the backing of the Arab League foreign ministers on Wednesday for resuming peace talks.
Palestinian officials described Thursday’s discussions in Ramallah as “stormy,” saying several PLO and Fatah officials voiced opposition to the resumption of the talks on the basis of Kerry’s ideas, which have yet to be made public.
At the end of the discussions, the Palestinian leaders announced that they had formed a committee that would be entrusted with reviewing Kerry’s proposals.
Israel had no formal comment on the developments, awaiting a final Palestinian decision.
“We are ready to return to talks, and we hope the Palestinians are ready as well,” one official said.
Maqboul said that a denial issued by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office [regarding the pre-1967 lines and possible land swaps] “blew up Kerry’s efforts.”
Re: Obama urges Netanyahu to resume peace negotiations with Palestinians
You'd think the American presidents could remember how we felt about arms build-up in Cuba, which is a lot further away from the US than Judea is from Israel.
