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Ban Ki-moon says only direct talks can bring peace
United Nations’ (UN) Secretary General began his tour of Israel and the West Bank yesterday, urging “courageous steps” towards peace.
Condemning the wave of Palestinian violence, which has killed at least 35 Israelis since October, UN Ban ki-Moon candidly said: “Stabbings, vehicular ramming and shootings have only one name: terrorism.” He added that “incitement to such acts and glorification of their perpetrators are unacceptable and must stop”.
However, Ban added that “we must not allow difficulties to become excuses for inaction” and urged PM Benjamin Netanyahu “to take the courageous steps necessary to prevent a one-state reality or perpetual conflict”.
In this regard, Ban said that “no solutions can be imposed from the outside, it must be based on direct negotiations on the final state issues”. Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have persistently argued that initiatives such as the current French plan for a multi-lateral peace conference will allow the Palestinian Authority (PA) to avoid direct talks and the concessions which will be needed by both sides to make peace.
Netanyahu, noting Ban’s previous admission that Israel is often treated unfairly and with bias by UN institutions, said that “regrettably… the goal of treating Israel fairly remains unfulfilled across a wide spectrum of UN activities and UN forums”.
Netanyahu thanked Ban for agreeing to meet the families of two Israeli soldiers, Oren Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and whose remains are held by Hamas, and the family of Avera Mengistu, an Israeli who wandered into Gaza two years ago and remains in Hamas’ hands. Netanyahu said: “I ask you to use your standing to help return home these soldiers and these citizens. It’s a humanitarian position.”
It was reported that Netanyahu and Ban discussed a report by the Quartet (UN, US, EU and Russia), which is to be published imminently and which is said to be sharply critical of both Israeli settlement building and Palestinian incitement as obstacles to peace.