Kerry back in Middle East to push for Israeli-Palestinian accord

The US secretary of state is stepping up his Middle East shuttle diplomacy with the aim of getting Israel and the Palestinians to agree to American bridging proposals in the form of a framework agreement to be presented to the sides later this month.

John Kerry, who will today meet Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and tomorrow Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, hopes a deal on a framework agreement will save the peace talks from collapse and allow the sides to continue negotiating beyond April’s nine-month deadline.

Ahead of Mr Kerry’s arrival in the region, a senior state department official said Mr Kerry had a real sense of urgency but did not anticipate a breakthrough this trip.

“We have established very well where the gaps are, but also generated some ideas that could help to serve as ways of bridging those gaps,” the official said. “The secretary’s trip this time is to start to test those ideas with the two leaders.”

The framework agreement is a position paper that is not legally binding. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders will not be required to sign it and will be able to voice reservations.

US diplomats remain tight-lipped on the details of the emerging document, but it is expected to include Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders with land swaps, and Palestinian recognition, at the end of negotiations, of Israel as a Jewish state and the end of the conflict.

The US official said the framework agreement would address all core issues, including the borders between Israel and a future Palestine, security, Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem.

The official also said if the parties agreed on a framework for negotiating a final peace deal, it might not be made public in order to avoid exposing the leaders to domestic political pressures.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have met 20 times since the bilateral peace talks were relaunched last July. The talks are held in secret, but there is little indication to date of any breakthrough.

Both sides have rejected US suggestions for security arrangements in the West Bank that were presented to negotiators last month.

The Palestinians ruled out the US proposal for an Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley, the West Bank’s eastern border with Jordan, after the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Israel said the US plan was insufficient to guarantee the security of residents of Israel.

Mr Abbas said he would not hesitate for a moment to reject any proposal that contradicted the Palestinians’ national interests.

Meanwhile, a poll has suggested a majority of Israelis and Palestinians support the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, but remain suspicious of the other side.

In it, 63 per cent of 601 Israelis and 53 per cent of 1,270 Palestinians surveyed said they backed a two-state solution. Support fell to 54 per cent and 46 per cent respectively when respondents were asked about specifics of a two-state deal.