Post by Paddy by Grace on May 9, 2010 17:09:36 GMT -7
The Burdensome Stone - Jerusalem To Be The Final Issue Addressed In Peace Talks
www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=174704
"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it" (Zech 12:3).
White House senior adviser David Axelrod told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that Jerusalem will likely be the final issue addressed in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
“Jerusalem as an issue can’t be the first issue for negotiations. It probably will be the last,” Axelrod said, characterizing the position of US President Barack Obama and the message he understood Obama to have conveyed during a lunch meeting with Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel.
The meeting came as US-brokered indirect talks between Israelis and Palestinians are expected to begin in the coming days, despite differences between the sides over whether final-status issues would be discussed. While Israel prefers issues such as Jerusalem to be deferred until direct negotiations, the US has indicated that final-status issues will at least be broached in the early talks as the Palestinians have been demanding.
The issue of Jerusalem derailed the expected start of indirect negotiations in March, when the Interior Ministry approved additional Jewish housing in east Jerusalem during a visit to Israel by Vice President Joe Biden meant to launch the process, a move that infuriated the Americans and the Palestinians.
www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=174704
"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it" (Zech 12:3).
White House senior adviser David Axelrod told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that Jerusalem will likely be the final issue addressed in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
“Jerusalem as an issue can’t be the first issue for negotiations. It probably will be the last,” Axelrod said, characterizing the position of US President Barack Obama and the message he understood Obama to have conveyed during a lunch meeting with Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel.
The meeting came as US-brokered indirect talks between Israelis and Palestinians are expected to begin in the coming days, despite differences between the sides over whether final-status issues would be discussed. While Israel prefers issues such as Jerusalem to be deferred until direct negotiations, the US has indicated that final-status issues will at least be broached in the early talks as the Palestinians have been demanding.
The issue of Jerusalem derailed the expected start of indirect negotiations in March, when the Interior Ministry approved additional Jewish housing in east Jerusalem during a visit to Israel by Vice President Joe Biden meant to launch the process, a move that infuriated the Americans and the Palestinians.