BICOM

US State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland announced yesterday that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are to hold a second round of talks, set to take place on Monday in Amman. The initial meeting last Tuesday was the first direct high-level dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians for a year.

According to a report in the Jerusalem Post, the Palestinians presented Israel on Tuesday with their proposal on borders and security, which calls for a full Israeli return to the 1967 lines, except for a 1.9 percent land swap. Israel did not accept this proposal when the Palestinians presented it to the Quartet in November for delivery to the Israeli side, insisting that it be presented during direct negotiations.

The talks last week predominantly focused on reaching agreement on terms under which direct contact between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas could resume. Netanyahu, according to Israeli sources cited in the Jerusalem Post, believes that direct negotiations between him and Abbas will greatly increase the chances of their success.

Despite the sides remaining divided on core issues, including the future borders of a Palestinian state, future arrangements in Jerusalem and the issue of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, and no meeting between Netanyahu and PA Abbas yet to be set up, Nuland yesterday said that the US was encouraged by the first round of talks between Israel and the Palestinians. “We are encouraged that they are both coming to the table, they are talking directly,” Nuland told reporters.

The Quartet on 23 September called for the two sides to resume talks with the aim of reaching a peace agreement by the end of 2012.