ISRAELI PRIME minister Binyamin Netanyahu says he believes direct peace talks with the Palestinians will begin by the middle of the month.
Addressing ministers ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Mr Netanyahu said that during recent talks he had won the backing of both Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah for the resumption of direct talks, but he accused the Palestinians of stalling.
Direct negotiations on a comprehensive peace deal leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state were broken off after Israel’s attack on Gaza one and a half years ago.
In May, indirect proximity talks began, via US mediation, but the Palestinians linked face-to-face negotiations to a total settlement freeze by Israel in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Last week the Arab League gave its agreement in principle for direct talks but left the final decision up to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
Since then US officials have exerted intense pressure on the Palestinians to move from indirect to direct talks, reportedly warning that relations with Washington would deteriorate if there was no change in the Palestinian position. US President Barack Obama, who made Middle East peace one of his top foreign policy goals, would like to claim the resumption of direct talks as a foreign policy success ahead of the US mid-term elections in November.
After talks in Cairo yesterday with his Egyptian counterpart, Israeli president Shimon Peres said Mr Mubarak agreed on the need to move to direct negotiations.“We must begin talks between Israel and the Palestinians as soon as possible . . . there is a window of opportunity that cannot be missed,” Mr Peres said.
Israel says it is willing to make a number of goodwill gestures if the Palestinians agree to upgrade the negotiations, such as the transfer of a number of West Bank towns to the sole control of the Palestinian Authority.
Referring to the recent rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel, Mr Netanyahu said Israel reserved the right to defend its citizens. “I view Hamas as directly responsible for all the attacks on Israel, and I believe the international community should see it the same way,” he said.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum accused Israel of trying to create pretexts for new attacks on Gaza.“Netanyahu and his government bear all the consequences of this escalation,” he said.