BICOM

Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) representatives met in Jerusalem yesterday for another round of peace talks as both sides apparently agreed to intensify negotiations.

It is thought that yesterday’s meeting was the ninth round of talks to be held between the two sides since July. Haaretz reports that Justice Minister Tzipi Livni represented Israel, together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s envoy, Isaac Molho while the PA delegation was led by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and Mohammad Shtayyeh. However, United States’ envoy Martin Indyk is not thought to have participated in yesterday’s meeting although he reportedly attended talks last week.

Although few details of the negotiations have been revealed since they resumed this summer, an unnamed Palestinian official told Reuters that “As the Americans requested, we are upping the tempo of the discussions.” The two delegations will reportedly meet more regularly and sessions will last for as long as eight hours. The same official commented, “Within two months, they will need to see in Washington how the unavoidable gaps between the sides have been minimized.”

Meanwhile, a delegation of twelve Knesset members travelled to Ramallah yesterday, where they met with PA President Mahmoud Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials. The visit of the delegation which included one Hatnuah MK and eleven Labour representatives, follows the first ever visit to the Knesset by a group of PA officials in July. During yesterday’s meeting, Abbas appeared upbeat over the prospects for concluding a peace deal. He said “The period of nine months [set aside for the current talks] is enough to reach an agreement.” Abbas emphasised that there is currently a very high level of security cooperation between Israel and the PA. Issac Herzog, who is a candidate for the Labour Party leadership expressed his hope that current talks “will bloom and bear fruit,” noting “We believe in a two-state solution and that we have a partner for talks.”