BICOM

The Quartet issued a statement over the weekend calling for renewed talks between Israelis and Palestinians, in light of the current unrest in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world. The statement was issued following a meeting in Munich of senior Quartet representatives, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The statement also expressed ‘regret’ at Israel’s discontinuation of its ten month settlement moratorium, and said clearly that unilateral actions by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of the negotiating process. The Quartet also welcomed Israeli agreement to undertake measures to boost the Palestinian economy in the West Bank, and to facilitate the reconstruction of infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

The planned statement had been anticipated to set out the Quartet’s position on certain final status issues, including the endorsement of the 1967 borders as the basis for territorial negotiations. However, with the high level of uncertainty in the region, the Quartet opted for what was in effect a holding statement, in anticipation of two follow-up meetings to be held in March.

The first such meeting is planned for Brussels around 1-2 March and will, reportedly, involve Quartet members, the US, EU, Russia and the UN, meeting separately with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. The focus of the meeting, according to the Quartet statement, is ‘how to bring about resumed negotiations on all core issues, including borders and security.’ The Brussels meetings will be followed in mid-March by another meeting to discuss the Quartet principles.