fbpx

News

Israel concerned over Quartet negotiations

[ssba]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet on Tuesday with senior ministers to decide whether to send Israel’s chief negotiator Yitzchak Molcho to meet with officials from the Middle East Quartet. PM Netanyahu is hesitant to send an aid to meetings with the Quartet, due to the fact that it may undermine US mediation that seeks direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian leadership. PM Netanyahu is in favour of mediation from the US and believes in direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians on the core issues to progress the peace process. Foreign ministers will meet at a Quartet summit in Paris in two weeks time and Israel hopes to avoid a situation where the Quartet presents terms of reference on the core issues of the conflict, including borders, Jerusalem, refugees and security.

United Nations envoy to the Middle East Robert Serry announced over the weekend that the Quartet planned to hold separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials later in the week in Brussels in an attempt to restart peace talks. Serry explained that the goal of the meeting was to hear what both sides had to say over core issues in the peace process. Meanwhile, Quartet Middle East Envoy Tony Blair arrived in the region yesterday and met with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Blair is scheduled to meet PM Netanyahu today.