BICOM

Speaking just days before the arrival of US Secretary of State John Kerry to the region, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said that peace talks are not themselves a goal, rather his aim is meaningful negotiations resulting in an agreement. 

Kerry’s visit this week to Israel and the Palestinian areas of the West Bank will be his fifth since March as he continues to make a concerted effort to kick-start peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Netanyahu has repeatedly called for Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to begin talks immediately without pre-conditions.

During a meeting in Jerusalem with Georgia’s Prime Minister, Netanyahu appeared to address fears discussed in the Israeli media this week that Abbas could agree to talks and then derail them at the earliest opportunity. Netanyahu said, “Our goal is not just to tick the box to show that we’ve begun negotiations. Our goal is to persist in the negotiations, to engage in them consistently over a serious period of time in order to try to grapple with all the issues and come to an agreement that resolves the fundamental issues in the conflict.” He added, “This will require time and determination and a systematic approach… That’s our approach. I hope it’s theirs too.”

Meanwhile, it had been suggested earlier this week that Abbas would soften his demands that talks with Israel depend on Israeli consent to freeze all settlement construction, agree to 1967 borders plus swaps and release pre-Oslo prisoners. However, in a meeting yesterday in Ramallah with Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Torgeir Larse, Abbas appeared to cool such speculation, insisting that peace talks with Israel should be based on the establishment of a Palestinian state “on the [pre- ]1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.”