A COMPROMISE package has been worked out between Jerusalem and Washington, paving the way for the resumption of peace contacts between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a telephone conversation with US secretary of state Hilary Clinton, outlined a series of measures to be taken by Israel to defuse the crisis prompted by Israel’s announcement that it would build 1,600 new homes for Jews in disputed east Jerusalem.
Both Israeli and American officials refused to reveal details, but there was speculation Israel may release Palestinian prisoners, remove additional West Bank roadblocks and may transfer more of the West Bank to the control of the Palestinian security forces.
Mr Netanyahu, who has spent all week trying to balance demands from Washington with the need to keep his predominantly right-wing coalition intact, refused to acquiesce in the call to cancel the building in east Jerusalem.
But, according to some unconfirmed media reports, he has agreed to slow down the pace of building, and will not allow new Jewish homes to be built inside existing Palestinian neighbourhoods in Jerusalem.
Mr Netanyahu will meet US Middle East envoy George Mitchell in Jerusalem this weekend. Mr Mitchell is expected to announce the start of indirect proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians during his trip.
Speaking in Moscow, Ms Clinton confirmed that Mr Netanyahu had given a “useful and productive” response to American concerns over settlements, saying the American pressure had “paid off”. She was speaking after a meeting of the quartet of Middle East peace mediators, comprising representatives of the EU, the UN and Russia, and US.
Tony Blair, the quartet’s Middle East envoy, also sounded optimistic over peace prospects following the Moscow meeting. “I hope very much that in the next few days we will have a package that gives people a sense that . . . it is worth having proximity talks and then those leading to direct negotiations,” he said.
The quartet statement called for direct bilateral talks leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within two years. The quartet also called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity, including building to accommodate natural growth, and denounced the recent decision to build more homes in east Jerusalem.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the quartet statement. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saab Erekat called on the quartet to set up a surveillance mechanism to ensure Israel stops construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman criticised the quartet’s two-year deadline for Palestinian statehood. “You cannot force peace artificially, in an unrealistic timetable.
“The quartet’s statement ignores the experiences of the past 16 years and does not take into account that peace must be constructed from the ground up, with practical actions on the ground.”