BICOM

Hague called for the US and Quartet to set parameters for a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, after a meeting in London with PA President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday. The foreign secretary’s recent statements on the peace process appear to form part of a larger effort by Britain and other European governments to pressure the US to support the laying down by the Quartet of parameters for an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, in the wake of the UN Security Council vote on settlements in February said that the US was opposed to such a move. This degree of public pressure by Britain on the US is unusual, and indicates that disagreement remains between the Europeans and the US.  

Speaking on negotiations, the Foreign Secretary urged both Palestinians and Israelis to return to talks and called for a breakthrough towards a permanent peace deal before the end of the year. Hague said that continued settlement building by Israel and the isolation of Gaza would ‘reduce prospects’ for peace. He also condemned Hamas’s refusal to allow new parliamentary and presidential elections in the Palestinian territories, scheduled for September. Hague called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to ‘seize the moment’ in order to match the changes in the region with a peace agreement. PA President Abbas reiterated his commitment to peace, but said that a new settlement freeze by Israel remained a PA condition for a renewal of the talks.

Meanwhile, Quartet representatives are set to meet with Yitzhak Molcho, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief negotiator, in Israel today. The Quartet could convene a meeting of its principles in Paris next as early as next week.