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Will peace talks be about
appearance or substance?
A Ski4,4A-g Eptya4taga4‘za,
Ron Kampeas
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Tuesday, September 14
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20
August 26 • 2010
Jewish
Federation
of
Metropolitan Detroit
WE'RE PART OF THE TEAM
At The Table
dacJecanda rnicrorsow
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Connecting Peopk & Servic
I is a peace conference where nothing
is off the table — or on it, for that
matter.
The Obama administration's invita-
tion to Palestinian and Israeli leaders to
launch direct talks on Sept. 2 attempts
to reconcile Israeli demands for no pre-
conditions with Palestinian demands
that the talks address all the core issues:
final borders, the fate of Jerusalem and
the fate of Palestinian refugees.
The administration does this by call-
ing on the sides to "resolve final-status
issues" without saying when and how
these issues should come up, if at all.
The vagueness of the invitation
issued Aug. 20 underscored the distance
between the two sides, as well as the
immediate political and regional
pressures that have lit a fire under U.S.
efforts to restart the peace process.
Whether or not the peace talks will
be able to move from vague outlines to
concrete resolutions remains to be seen.
For now, merely having direct talks is
an achievement, particularly for the
United States and Israel.
For the United States, having the
talks gives Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu a reason to con-
tinue a partial settlement moratorium,
thereby sustaining Arab support for
U.S. policies. This support is seen as
important as Washington attempts to
juggle emerging crises in the region,
including Iraq's vexed attempts to set
up a government and Iran's accelerating
nuclear ambitions.
President Obama also wants a pro-
cess under way before November, when
his Democratic Party is likely to face
a tough battle at the ballot box during
midterm congressional elections.
For Netanyahu, the talks are a way to
demonstrate that his government is
interested in pursuing peace with the
Palestinians.
Among the Palestinian leadership,
however, there are deep concerns that
Washington and Jerusalem are more
interested in the appearance of talks
than in getting down to the nitty-gritty
of the final-status issues. Israel has
resisted Palestinian demands to discuss
final-status issues and opposes any
deadline for a resolution.
The discrepancies between the two
sides were evident in the delicate way
U.S. officials tried to treat the issue of
preconditions to the talks.
"Only the parties
can determine terms
of reference and basis
for negotiations, and
they will do so when
they meet and dis-
cuss these matters:'
George Mitchell, the
top U.S. envoy to
George
the region, said in
Mitchell
the news conference
announcing the invitations.
"As you know, both we and the
Quartet have previously said that the
negotiations should be without precon-
ditions:'
The Quartet is the grouping that
guides the Middle East peace process:
the United States, Russia, the European
Union and the United Nations.
Yet in launching the news conference,
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
seemed to say that both of the elements
Israel is resisting indeed would be
on the table: final-status issues and a
deadline.
"On behalf of the United States gov-
ernment, I've invited Israeli Prime
Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian
Authority President Abbas to meet on
Sept. 2 in Washington, D.C., to re-
launch direct negotiations to resolve all
final-status issues, which we believe can
be completed within one year','
Clinton said.
Was that a deadline, a reporter asked
Mitchell? Not quite, he said, adding,
"We believe it can be done within a
year and that is our objective."
Then there is the matter of U.S.
involvement. Mitchell insisted that the
talks would be bilateral, ostensibly
diminishing the U.S. role. He said the
United States was ready to offer "bridg-
ing proposals" — the formulations that
negotiating sides request from a mod-
erator when talks hit a snag. But the
way he put it suggested that the United
States might offer such proposals even
if the sides do not request them.
"This is a direct bilateral negotiation
with the active and sustained
support of the United States',' he said.