BICOM

Israeli media reports suggest substantive issues, which are key to brokering a final status agreement; including Jerusalem and borders are being discussed at peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials.

Representatives from both sides are thought to have met on at least fifteen occasions since peace talks resumed in July. Although few details of the negotiations have been made public, both Yediot Ahronot and Israel Radio news this morning claim Jerusalem and borders have been discussed.

Apparently, Israeli representatives have suggested that the West Bank security barrier should be the basis for borders of a future Palestinian state, with Beit El, Nokdim and Psagot connected to major settlement blocs which would remain in Israeli hands. Palestinian negotiators want to see the pre-1967 borders with some land swaps as the starting point for discussion. The reports claim that there was talk of establishing an area of Jerusalem “in which there would be open access to both sides”, the extent of this area was apparently a point of disagreement between Israel’s two lead negotiators Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Yitzhak Molcho.

However, the Justice Ministry would only say that “We cannot address the contents of the meetings” and clarified that “Minister Livni and Attorney Molcho work with full cooperation and coordination.” The Prime Minister’s Office claimed the Yediot Ahronot report was without basis.

Meanwhile, Haaretz and Maariv both claim that US Secretary of State John Kerry is drafting a blueprint for a peace agreement if little progress is made in peace talks during the coming months. Haaretz says Kerry’s plan would be based on the Clinton parameters of 2000 which suggested a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank, following land swaps in which major settlement blocs would remain under Israeli control. Kerry will arrive in Israel later today for separate talks with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PA President Mahmoud Abbas.