Netanyahu warns Palestinians over 'unilateral action' threats
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday told government ministers that Israel expects the "Palestinians to fulfill their commitment to hold the direct talks," restarted on Sept. 2 after an 18-month break.
"I think that any attempt to circumvent them by going to international bodies is not realistic and it will not advance the real diplomatic process," Netanyahu said at a weekly cabinet session, the Ha'aretz daily reported.
"We are holding intensive contacts with the American administration in order to restart the diplomatic process," Netanyahu said at the meeting in a statement sent to Xinhua.
The momentum may be snagged by a demand by Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas that Israel fully halt all settlement construction in the West Bank before resuming talks.
"When Obama became president he was the one who declared that the 'settlement construction must be stopped.' The United States says it, Europe says it, the whole world is saying it, why should I not say it?" Abbas told an interviewer on Israel Channel 1 television.
Talks are at a standstill now, with some analysts also citing upcoming midterm elections in the United States as a reason for the breakdown, with both sides unwilling to take decisive steps until the outcome of voting in the Congress is confirmed, and its effect on President Barack Obama's positions.
Netanyahu said he's sticking to the idea of reaching tangible results within "one-year."
"Our goal is not just to resume the process, but to advance it in such a way that it cannot be halted in a few weeks or months, and will enter into approximately one year of continuous negotiations on the fundamental problems, in order to try and reach a framework agreement ahead of a peace settlement," Netanyahu said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in an address to a pro-Palestinian group on Friday said, "there is no substitute for face-to-face discussion and, ultimately, for an agreement that leads to a just and lasting peace."
In a speech to the American Task Force for Palestine, Clinton said, "that is the only path that will lead to the fulfillment of the Palestinian national aspirations and the necessary outcome of two states for two peoples," The Jerusalem Post reported.
As well, senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official, Yasser Abed Rabbo, said Saturday "one party can't remain committed while the other party has violated the agreements. We can't remain committed to the agreements that were signed with Israel forever,' he told the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat.
"Most probably, we will abandon the Palestinian obligations that resulted from these accords because Israel is denying all agreements and keeping violating them," Ahmed Majdalani of the PLO told Xinhua.
In 1993, the Oslo peace deal between the PLO and Israel enabled the creation of the PNA and established a nominal autonomy.
Today, the PNA doesn't see Israel committed to the two principles of the agreement: mutual and common cooperation when implementing the deals on the ground. Therefore, the PNA doesn't have a legal and political mandate in the territories it rules, Majdalani said.
However, the Israeli prime minister tried to allay cabinet security concerns over any potential Israeli handovers to the Palestinians, saying "we will, of course, uphold the vital interests of the State of Israel, with security first and foremost. We expect the Palestinians to honor their commitment to hold direct negotiations."
He said "peace will only be achieved through direct negotiations and I hope that we will fully return to this track soon."
