BICOM

Key Points

• The Quartet sought to strike a degree of balance in today’s statement on the Middle East peace process.
• The statement set a significant 24-month time frame for the resolution of peace talks.
• Whilst condemning Israel’s actions in East Jerusalem, it positively referred to Israel’s steps in the West Bank and in Gaza.
• The statement called on both sides to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric in relations to holy sites.

The full statement can be read here.

Backing a US push for direct final-status talks lasting 24 months

Today’s Quartet statement backs the US policy of using indirect talks to advance quickly to direct negotiations on ‘all final-status issues’. Prime Minister Netanyahu has been calling for direct final-status talks for the past year, whilst the Palestinians have refused to enter talks without a prior Israeli freeze on all settlement construction. The two sides had tentatively agreed to indirect talks until news of new construction in Jerusalem derailed the process.

The statement is significant in calling for talks to be concluded within 24 months. This ties into a timetable previously set out by US envoy Senator Mitchell. It also corresponds to the timetable of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to establish governing institutions in preparation for a Palestinian State within two years. The Quartet has strongly endorsed Fayyad’s efforts. The setting of a two-year timetable can be interpreted as an incentive for the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table, with international backing that talks will not be allowed to drag out indefinitely, especially if the Palestinians succeed in establishing the institutions necessary for statehood. 

Call for a negotiated solution which meets the needs of both sides in Jerusalem

Whilst condemning Israel’s recent announcement of new construction in East Jerusalem, the Quartet has recognised that the future of the city needs to be determined through negotiations that can ‘realise the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem, and safeguards its status for people around the world.’

After a week of clashes between Palestinian rioters and Israeli security forces in and around Jerusalem, the statement calls on both sides to ‘observe calm and restraint and to refrain from provocative actions and inflammatory rhetoric especially in areas of cultural and religious sensitivity’.

Whilst this may refer to the recent Israeli announcement to include religious sites in the West Bank as part of national cultural heritage plan, it could also be in reference to inflammatory statements from the Palestinian side. There has been a pattern in recent months whereby Palestinian leaders from both Islamists and nationalist camps have used misleading and inflammatory rhetoric about Israeli activities in Jerusalem to outdo each other to gain legitimacy on the Palestinian street, thereby inflaming tensions. 

Positive statement on Israeli actions in the West Bank and Gaza

The Quartet again took, ‘positive note of Israel’s steps to ease restrictions of movement in the West Bank’ and called for further such steps in its statement. Israel has considerably reduced restrictions on movement in the West Bank in the past year as Palestinian security forces have improved law and order on the ground. This has led to marked economic improvements in the West Bank.

In expressing serious concerns about the situation in Gaza, the Quartet statement calls for a solution to deal with the problem of weapons smuggling into Gaza, and Palestinian reunification, alongside the issue of opening the crossings for unimpeded flow of aid commercial goods. Currently Israel allows unlimited quantities of basic goods to enter Gaza, but restricts the type of goods which can enter. The Hamas regime in Gaza refuses to recognise Israel, and is continuing to smuggle rockets and other weapons into Gaza with which to attack Israel with the help of Iran. The Quartet has condemned the firing of a rocket yesterday by a small Jihadi group in Gaza which killed a farm worker in Israel.

The Quartet noted positively that Israel has just given approval for, ‘a number of the UN Secretary General’s civilian recovery projects, including a staled housing project in Khan Younis’.

Call for positive engagement of Arab states

The Quartet also called for Arab states in the region, ‘to support publicly the resumption of bilateral negotiations, enter into structured regional dialogue on issues of common concern, and take steps to foster positive relations throughout the region’.

In his Cairo speech last year, President Obama called on Arab states to positively contribute to the advancement of peace, and the US has subsequently asked Arab states to engage in dialogue with Israel alongside bilateral talks between Israel and the Palestinians. However, so far no positive reciprocal steps have been forthcoming from the Arab world, even after Israel declared a 10-month freeze on new construction in the West Bank.