BICOM

Israeli and American figures met in Rome yesterday, where they discussed various possibilities for making progress towards peace.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the challenge of “beating back terrorism” and “also the challenge of violence stemming from extremism in Gaza and the West Bank”. In a wave of violence since October, at least 35 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian terror attacks.

Kerry emphasised that “Israel is, as everybody knows and we reiterate again and again, a critical ally and friend of the United States”. He and Netanyahu also discussed how “we can try to change the direction and find a positive way to affect the lives of everybody – Israelis, Palestinians, people in the neighbouring countries – and move toward a more stable and peaceful future.”

Netanyahu welcomed the opportunity for “probing talks on the region, on the challenges and on the opportunities with my good friend John Kerry. There are serious talks by two committed allies, Israel and the United States.” With several potential initiatives being publicly discussed, Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s objection to the current French plan for a multi-lateral peace conference, which has excluded Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Israel’s government believes that the French peace plan will allow the PA to avoid direct talks and the concessions which will be needed by both sides to make peace.

However, Netanyahu said that Israel is in favour of “other frameworks” in order to “promote responsible and wiser diplomatic processes”. In particular, Netanyahu recently expressed support for a regional peace initiative, involving Sunni Arab states in the region. He has indicated that the basis for this could be the Arab Peace Initiative, a Saudi-spearheaded plan, which would see a pan-Arab rapprochement in return for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

While in Rome, Netanyahu also met with Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The two agreed to strengthen bilateral relations, particularly security, economic and cyber cooperation.