Obama faces a tough task. The Israelis and Palestinians have dug in deep to positions that have eluded compromise, despite multiple visits by Washington’s special US envoy. Deep divisions among the Palestinians further complicate the process. And it’s far from clear whether there is enough common ground between the hawkish Netanyahu and the weakened Abbas.
The Palestinians hope to build a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Israel captured those territories in 1967. While Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, Netanyahu has given little indication that he is ready to make territorial compromises in the West Bank and east Jerusalem that would be crucial to reaching an accord.
After the meeting was announced Saturday, Netanyahu’s office said he “warmly accepts’’ the invitation. A senior Israeli official said the meetings in New York were meant to lay the groundwork for negotiations but would not constitute a relaunch of talks.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to articulate government policy on the record.
The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said the Palestinians “felt the intervention of Obama is a good sign, a sign of commitment on the part of the president.’’
He said they would talk about “obligations and commitments’’ and that the Palestinians “believe this [the trilateral meeting] is an opportunity.’’
Obama plans to meet separately with Netanyahu and Abbas on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly before bringing them together tomorrow for a three-way meeting. The meeting had been in doubt after US envoy George Mitchell failed last week to bridge gaps between the two sides on the settlements.
Talks on the Palestinian side are being handled by Abbas and his moderate Palestinian Authority. The Islamic militant Hamas group that overran Gaza in 2007 is not a party to the negotiation process.
In Gaza yesterday, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh castigated the new US administration and said he wouldn’t recognize any accord.
READER COMMENTS »
View reader comments » Comment on this story »