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Quartet meeting in July expected to unveil new peace plan

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The Quartet (the European Union, United States, United Nations and Russia) is set to reveal a new international plan intended to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to Israeli media reports this morning. The plan, it is hoped, will induce the Palestinian Authority to abandon its plans to seek support for a unilaterally declared Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September. According to reports, the Quartet summit is set to take place in Washington, on 11 July. This is only four days before the date set by the Palestinians to issue their appeal to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for full membership for Palestine at the UN. This appeal must be made by 15 July in order to give enough time to propose the subject for a vote at the General Assembly in September.

The details of the plan to be presented have not been revealed. However, it is likely to be based on US President Barack Obama’s speech on 19 May. According to a report in Haaretz, the summit is taking place as a result of pressure exerted on the US by EU countries, in particular Britain, France and Germany. These countries, according to the report, consider an international peace plan to be an important element in giving the Palestinians an incentive to abandon the path of unilateralism. The US, meanwhile, is continuing contact with both Israelis and Palestinians in an effort to re-start direct talks. Middle East envoys David Hale and senior White House adviser Dennis Ross have conducted talks in recent weeks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in an effort to find a formula for renewed negotiations. However, this has so far proved elusive.