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'And we will make bridging pro-
posals at such time as we deem
necessary and appropriate." The
determined, active voice he used
was not unintentional: Mitchell later
repeated the phrase.
The Palestinians have been press-
ing for a more active U.S. role, saying
that it would help balance Israel's
stronger hand as an established
state with a powerful military. Israel
would rather deal directly with
the Palestinians, preferring not to
countenance an active U.S. role that
conceivably could exacerbate already
delicate Israeli relations with the
United States.
Not surprisingly, then, the state-
ment from Netanyahu's office
welcoming the renewed talks —
which came immediately after the
announcement — did not
mention final-status issues, dead-
lines or U.S. intervention.
"The prime minister has been
calling for direct negotiations for
the past year and a hale' the state-
ment said."He was pleased with the
American clarification that the talks
would be without preconditions:'
The Palestinian Authority's
response to the announcement of
the talks was less than enthusiastic.
It took till the end of Aug. 20 for
them to welcome the invitation to
talks, and Palestinian leaders later
warned that if Israel's 10-month
settlement freeze is allowed to expire
in late September, the talks are off.
Netanyahu's statement did not
say what he intends to do about the
freeze.
Israeli officials reportedly have
told their U.S. counterparts that
Netanyahu would not be able to sus-
tain the moratorium on settlement
building without the cover of peace
talks.
Similarly, the Arab League,
which this summer provided much
needed cover to Mahmoud Abbas in
approving the peace talks, needs the
negotiations as cover to maintain its
support of the United States.
Both Mitchell and the Quartet
made it clear that they expected
the settlement moratorium to be
extended.
"Our position on settlements
is well-known and remains
unchanged;' Mitchell
said."We've always made clear that
the parties should promote an envi-
ronment that is conducive to nego-
tiations." ❑

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August 26 • 2010

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