ISRAELI PRIME minister Binyamin Netanyahu has refused to address substantive issues during three sessions of direct talks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, an Israeli newspaper has reported.
Instead, he limited discussion to the conduct of negotiations and Israel's partial curb on settlement building in the West Bank.
Quoting unidentified western diplomatic sources, the Israeli liberal daily Haaretzreported yesterday that Mr Netanyahu "refuses to present fundamental positions or discuss the borders of the [ future] Palestinian state".
Before direct talks opened on September 2nd, the leaders agreed that the border between Israel and the Palestinian state and security would top the agenda. But, Haaretzrevealed, security was the only major issue Mr Netanyahu would tackle. Mr Abbas argues that once the border is fixed, agreement could follow on the five final-status issues as well as security.
Western diplomats cited in the Haaretzarticle contradicted US envoy George Mitchell who claimed the two men had achieved progress during their third meeting in Jerusalem on September 15th. US officials argued, instead, the talks had regressed. An Israeli source told HaaretzMr Netanyahu would not negotiate core issues, while the row over settlements jeopardises negotiations.
Mr Netanyahu seems to be behaving as he did during US-brokered indirect talks that preceded the launch of direct negotiations. A senior Palestinian official said Mr Abbas had presented written Palestinian positions on all final-status issues - borders, East Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, resources and Palestinian refugees - but Mr Netanyahu has not reciprocated.
His refusal to put forward Israeli positions on core issues could explain why the Palestinian side insists on a halt to settlement construction as proof that Israel is prepared to trade land for peace. Palestinians believe Mr Netan- yahu has refused to be pinned down over the past seven months because he is not seriously committed to the two-state solution.
On Saturday, Mr Abbas received the support of the executive committee of the 13-faction Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) for his refusal to return to negotiations until the partial curb on Israeli West Bank settlement construction is extended. "There will be no negotiations as long as settlement building continues," Nabil Abu Rudaineh, Mr Abbas' spokesman, announced after a PLO conference in Ramallah.
Ahead of a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday, Mr Mitchell stated, "The two parties, Israelis and Palestinians, have asked us to continue our discussions with them and with other governments on how best to achieve the objective of the negotiations", which he defined as a "viable independent [ Palestinian] state". But Egypt's foreign minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit declared after the encounter, "We understand the Palestinian position which calls for setting the appropriate environment and circumstances for negotiations. The current conditions are not favourable." Mr Mitchell will today brief Jordan's King Abdullah.
A final decision on whether or not the Palestinians should resume negotiations is expected to be taken on the weekend.
