Post by Paddy by Grace on Sept 24, 2009 8:33:38 GMT -7
www.worthynews.com/top/foxnews-com-politics-2009-09-22-obama-lays-groundwork-peace-israel-palestinians-/
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel would never make peace with Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, a stand that could undermine peace negotiations in the region.
In an interview with FOX News, Netanyahu said Gaza can't be part of a peace deal while Hamas is in control.
"We can work with the Palestinian Authority headed by Abbas," he said, referring to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "We cannot accept Hamas as a negotiating partner."
"I categorically say you can't make peace with somebody who wants to destroy you, and Hamas wants to destroy us," he said. "What would we negotiate with them about? The method of our destruction?"
After weeks of talks by his diplomatic team produced few apparent results, President Obama made a personal appeal to the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to resume talks that have been on hold since Netanyahu took office in March.
"I'm glad he called for this meeting," Netanyahu said. "For five months, we've said, 'Look, let's just get on with it. Let's meet without preconditions.'"
But Obama wants Netanyahu and Abbas to tackle the toughest issues before them.
"Simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations," Obama said. "It is time to move forward."
In a sign that he is open to negotiations on the more contentious issues, Netanyahu suggested Israel is ready to make gestures on a temporary freeze on West Bank settlements outside of Jerusalem.
"But at the same time, we have to allow for the possibility of normal life for the people who are living in those communities, in those settlements," he said.
"There's a quarter of a million people there," he added. "They need kindergartens and schools. They need health clinics and I think what we're trying to balance necessities of normal life with our intention and our desire to re-launch the peace process."
Netanyahu said he believes the issue of settlements will come at the end of negotiations.
"But we certainly can't decide that before we negotiate," he said.
Despite Netanyahu's public support for talks without precondition, some experts believe the Israeli leader's not likely to concede much with Abbas still blocked from Gaza by Hamas' rule.
"If you don't have a Palestinian leadership that can deliver, it's no time to be offering up one Israeli concession after another," said Jon Alterman, a senior fellow and director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Netanyahu told FOX News he hopes he will have regular meetings with Abbas going forward.
"We've had them before," he said. "We've talked quite a lot many years back -- to admit our advancing age -- but at least we're seasoned hands and we know that we're charged with a great responsibility by our people. And that responsibility is to produce peace for our peoples and our children."
Abbas, meanwhile, isn't eager for talks with an Israeli leader who believes a Palestinian state can have police but no army and no control of its own airspace.
U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell says the Israelis have made some concessions, easing travel restrictions that made it difficult for Palestinians to work and removing some illegal settlements. But Netanyahu has refused to stop settlement expansion, which is a Palestinian condition for resumed peace talks.
"We are continuing our discussions on that issue and we're trying to bring it to a point where we can re-launch the negotiations and we discussed it with both sides," Mitchell said.
The president wants Mitchell to step up the pressure on both sides, with the goal of resuming talks next month.
"Permanent status negotiations must begin and begin soon," Obama said. "And more importantly, we must give those negotiations the opportunity to succeed."
Those negotiations would decide whether and how Israelis and Palestinians share Jerusalem, which Israeli settlements would be dismantled to give Palestinians a contiguous West Bank and what to do about three generations of Palestinian refugees, now living in Jordan and Syria.
But Alterman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, feels Israel has more urgent concerns on which to focus than a peace agreement with Palestinians.
"The real threat to Israel doesn't come from Palestinians. It comes from Iranians," Alterman said. "And therefore the Israeli willingness to make really serious compromises to the Palestinians is lower because of a sense it is not necessary, it is not urgent."
Senior administration officials say privately Obama was blunt in his talks with both leaders, telling Netanyahu they're not starting from scratch and warning Abbas to stop waiting for a perfect solution. And though it's early in the Obama administration, aides suggest he's running out of patience with both sides.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel would never make peace with Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, a stand that could undermine peace negotiations in the region.
In an interview with FOX News, Netanyahu said Gaza can't be part of a peace deal while Hamas is in control.
"We can work with the Palestinian Authority headed by Abbas," he said, referring to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "We cannot accept Hamas as a negotiating partner."
"I categorically say you can't make peace with somebody who wants to destroy you, and Hamas wants to destroy us," he said. "What would we negotiate with them about? The method of our destruction?"
After weeks of talks by his diplomatic team produced few apparent results, President Obama made a personal appeal to the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to resume talks that have been on hold since Netanyahu took office in March.
"I'm glad he called for this meeting," Netanyahu said. "For five months, we've said, 'Look, let's just get on with it. Let's meet without preconditions.'"
But Obama wants Netanyahu and Abbas to tackle the toughest issues before them.
"Simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations," Obama said. "It is time to move forward."
In a sign that he is open to negotiations on the more contentious issues, Netanyahu suggested Israel is ready to make gestures on a temporary freeze on West Bank settlements outside of Jerusalem.
"But at the same time, we have to allow for the possibility of normal life for the people who are living in those communities, in those settlements," he said.
"There's a quarter of a million people there," he added. "They need kindergartens and schools. They need health clinics and I think what we're trying to balance necessities of normal life with our intention and our desire to re-launch the peace process."
Netanyahu said he believes the issue of settlements will come at the end of negotiations.
"But we certainly can't decide that before we negotiate," he said.
Despite Netanyahu's public support for talks without precondition, some experts believe the Israeli leader's not likely to concede much with Abbas still blocked from Gaza by Hamas' rule.
"If you don't have a Palestinian leadership that can deliver, it's no time to be offering up one Israeli concession after another," said Jon Alterman, a senior fellow and director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Netanyahu told FOX News he hopes he will have regular meetings with Abbas going forward.
"We've had them before," he said. "We've talked quite a lot many years back -- to admit our advancing age -- but at least we're seasoned hands and we know that we're charged with a great responsibility by our people. And that responsibility is to produce peace for our peoples and our children."
Abbas, meanwhile, isn't eager for talks with an Israeli leader who believes a Palestinian state can have police but no army and no control of its own airspace.
U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell says the Israelis have made some concessions, easing travel restrictions that made it difficult for Palestinians to work and removing some illegal settlements. But Netanyahu has refused to stop settlement expansion, which is a Palestinian condition for resumed peace talks.
"We are continuing our discussions on that issue and we're trying to bring it to a point where we can re-launch the negotiations and we discussed it with both sides," Mitchell said.
The president wants Mitchell to step up the pressure on both sides, with the goal of resuming talks next month.
"Permanent status negotiations must begin and begin soon," Obama said. "And more importantly, we must give those negotiations the opportunity to succeed."
Those negotiations would decide whether and how Israelis and Palestinians share Jerusalem, which Israeli settlements would be dismantled to give Palestinians a contiguous West Bank and what to do about three generations of Palestinian refugees, now living in Jordan and Syria.
But Alterman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, feels Israel has more urgent concerns on which to focus than a peace agreement with Palestinians.
"The real threat to Israel doesn't come from Palestinians. It comes from Iranians," Alterman said. "And therefore the Israeli willingness to make really serious compromises to the Palestinians is lower because of a sense it is not necessary, it is not urgent."
Senior administration officials say privately Obama was blunt in his talks with both leaders, telling Netanyahu they're not starting from scratch and warning Abbas to stop waiting for a perfect solution. And though it's early in the Obama administration, aides suggest he's running out of patience with both sides.