BICOM

US Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to arrive in Israel this evening for talks with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, in an attempt to advance peace talks.

Kerry brokered the resumption of talks between Israel and the PA in July following a three year hiatus, with agreement to a nine-month time frame to conclude a comprehensive peace deal. Although the two negotiating teams have met regularly since July, there has been no significant breakthrough and tensions are thought to have increased during the past few weeks.

However, Haaretz reports this morning that Kerry will present Netanyahu and other Israeli officials with a proposed plan for security arrangements in the West Bank in the event of the establishment of a Palestinian state. Retired US Gen. John Allen, who has visited the region several times, will apparently present the plan to Netanyahu, Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni who heads Israel’s negotiating team. The report suggests that the US proposal is intended as a starting point for a discussion over security, but that Kerry believes Israeli agreement on security arrangements could be the key to making progress on other core issues.

Meanwhile, several reports this morning quote an unnamed senior European Union (EU) official stating that if the peace talks fail to bear fruit, then the EU may cut off financial assistance to the PA. It is thought that the EU currently contributes around 300 million Euros annually to the PA, mainly for public sector wages and infrastructure projects. In addition, Andreas Reinicke, the EU’s Representative to the Middle East Peace Process suggested yesterday that if peace talks collapse, support among EU member states for the separate labelling of West Bank goods would likely gather pace.