ISRAELI PRIME minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet in Jerusalem today with US envoy George Mitchell, launching indirect proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
A second meeting will take place tomorrow before Mr Mitchell makes the short journey to Ramallah in the West Bank for discussions on Friday with the Palestinian side.
The arrangement involving American mediation was necessitated by the Palestinian refusal to renew direct talks, broken off during the war in Gaza in December 2008, in protest over ongoing Israeli building in West Bank settlements and east Jerusalem.
Despite the fact that Mr Mitchell has succeed in getting the sides to start talking again, there is little optimism on either side that significant progress will be achieved in the four months the Palestinians have allotted for the talks.
A particularly pessimistic assessment came yesterday from Brig-Gen Yossi Baidatz, head of Israel’s military intelligence research division. He told the foreign affairs and defence committee of the Knesset that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas “is laying the groundwork for the failure of the talks”.
He said that although the Palestinian leader did seek an agreement, his leeway on the core issues was limited. “Abbas’s goal is to expose Israel’s true face and show that we do not want peace,” said Brig-Gen Baidatz. The Palestinian side is equally sceptical.
Although Mr Netanyahu has stated his support for a two-state solution, there remains a deep suspicion on the Palestinian side over Israeli intentions. Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Mr Abbas, said the talks will show if Israel is serious. “The truth is we are not in need of negotiations. We are in need of decisions by the Israeli government,” he said.
Mr Netanyahu, who will head the Israeli negotiating team, intends to raise Israeli security concerns at the start of the talks.
The Palestinians want core issues, such as borders, refugees and the fate of Jerusalem, to be discussed during the early stages of negotiations.
US president Barack Obama spoke with Mr Netanyahu ahead of the start of the talks and reiterated Washington’s commitment to Israeli security. According to officials both men expressed the desire to move to direct negotiations as soon as possible.
Israel is slated to make a number of goodwill gestures, including the release of Palestinian prisoners. The concessions followed weeks of pressure on Israel from Washington.
Israeli police are investigating a fire yesterday that damaged a mosque in the West Bank village of Libban al-Sharqiya near Nablus. Residents claimed Jewish settlers were responsible but police said the blaze, which destroyed the mosque, could have been accidental. Militant settlers have been linked to arson attacks and acts of vandalism against West Bank mosques in recent months.