BICOM

According to Israeli media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the octet of senior cabinet members are yet to reached a formal decision over the Quartet’s proposal for renewed talks between Israelis and Palestinians, but appear inclined to support the initiative. Netanyahu convened the inner cabinet of eight ministers to discuss the Quartet’s proposal, amid wide expectations that Israel would formally accept the initiative. However, on Tuesday evening, after a five-hour long meeting, no formal position was announced.

Vice Premier Silvan Shalom, in an interview with Army Radio today, said that the cabinet’s response to the Quartet initiative “must take a positive direction,” but expressed two reservations to the proposal. “There are two problematic items. The first is that everything needs to be done within a year.” The second, he said, is that “the need to reach agreements on borders and security within three months – something that is impossible to do without knowing what happens with all the other issues, primarily the right of return and Jerusalem.”

The Quartet plan, presented Friday at UN Headquarters in New York by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, called for Israel and the Palestinian Authority to renew direct talks within a month, to present proposals on borders and security within three months, and to reach a final agreement by the end of 2012.

The Palestinian Authority leadership has not yet formally responded to the Quartet formula, but is expected to meet in the coming days. However, in contrast to Israel, their initial responses were negative, as the formula said nothing explicitly about a settlement construction freeze or about starting the negotiations with the pre-1967 lines as the baseline for the talks.