BICOM

A report in this morning’s Haaretz suggests that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be willing to withdraw from at least ninety per cent of the West Bank in the context of a peace deal with the Palestinian Authority (PA), so long as his security demands are met.

The report cites an unnamed senior Likud minister, who said “Netanyahu understands that for a peace agreement, it will be necessary to withdraw from more than 90 percent of the West Bank and evacuate more than a few settlements.” The minister said that Netanyahu “believes that an agreement on two states for two peoples would be good for the country,” and that he is guided more by pragmatism rather than ideology on the issue. As a result, Netanyahu would insist on certain requirements, mainly over security. The Haaretz source said “His two key principles are maintaining the settlement blocs as part of Israel and a military presence in the Jordan Valley, without Israeli sovereignty there.”

Although some senior figures within Netanyahu’s Likud Party, such as Danny Danon have recently spoken publicly against the idea of a two-state solution, the unnamed minister said that Prime Minister Netanyahu believes that he will secure broad-based political support for a peace deal including from “Even those who today present themselves as right-wing.”

The Haaretz report comes on the eve of the latest visit to the region by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is due to arrive in Israel today. It will be Kerry’s fifth visit to the region since March as he continues to make a concerted effort to kick-start peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Kerry will reportedly meet with Netanyahu this evening, before travelling to Jordan to meet PA President Mahmoud Abbas tomorrow and will return to Jerusalem to meet Netanyahu again on Saturday night.