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Will the Obama administration place sanctions on Israel for blocking the peace negotiations? In one week France and Israel succeeded to end diplomacy and give the neo-conservatives the upper hand for a war footing towards Iran.
Palestinian peace negotiators resign over lack of progress
RAMALLAH (JPost) – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said his peace negotiators had resigned over the lack of progress in US-brokered statehood talks clouded by Israeli settlement building. The development would mark a new low point for the talks with Israel that resumed in July and which officials from both sides have said have made little headway.
In an interview with Egyptian CBC television, Abbas suggested the negotiations would continue even if the Palestinian delegation stuck to its decision. “Either we can convince it to return, and we’re trying with them, or we form a new delegation,” he said.
It was unclear from Abbas’s interview when the Palestinian negotiators had quit, but Abbas said he would need about a week to resume the talks.
In a statement to Reuters TV, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat did not elaborate on the report of his resignation, but said the sessions with Israel were frozen. “In reality, the negotiations stopped last week in light of the settlement announcements last week.”
Since the talks got underway after a three-year break, Israel has announced plans for several thousand new settler homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
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(Forward) – A statement announcing Netanyahu’s move made no mention of the Palestinians or the land-for-peace negotiations. Most countries say Israeli settlements built in areas captured in the 1967 Middle East war are illegal.
But Israeli Energy Minister Silvan Shalom, a member of Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, made clear that Israel would continue settlement building, while being more careful in the future about announcing it.
“The question is always about the timing. Is the timing right? Is the timing wrong?” Shalom told Israel Radio. “We need the support of the United States on the Iranian issue and have to do our utmost to lower any tensions with it.”
Erekat said through its settlement activity, Israel was trying to destroy U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s diplomatic efforts to achieve a peace deal.
Netanyahu instructs housing minister to ‘reconsider’ plans for 24,000 units beyond Green Line
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○ Likud hardliners call to stop peace talks after suspected terror attack
○ New York Times Bashes Bibi’s Iran ‘Hysterics’