White House envoy George Mitchell, the former US senator who brokered Northern Ireland’s peace accord, has been trying to relaunch peace talks since President Obama took office in January 2009.
But his efforts have hit repeated stumbling blocks, including an Israeli decision in March to build 1,600 homes for Jews in East Jerusalem, the section of the city claimed by the Palestinians. The announcement prompted the Palestinians to call off the start of the indirect negotiations and strained Israel’s relations with the US.
After weeks of prodding by Mitchell, Israel and the Palestinians agreed last week to start their indirect talks. Mitchell, who arrived in Israel late yesterday, plans to meet with the sides separately this week to get the negotiations under way.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, flew to Egypt yesterday to brief President Hosni Mubarak on the peace effort.
Egypt, the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, often serves as a bridge between Israel and the broader Arab world. Over the weekend, the 22-member Arab League endorsed the Palestinians’ decision to resume indirect talks with Israel, giving the Palestinians political cover to proceed with talks that have been greeted with widespread skepticism by the public.
Netanyahu also discussed the talks with Obama in a phone call yesterday, the White House said.
Israeli officials say Netanyahu will oversee the initial negotiations with Mitchell and will focus his efforts on security issues.
Senior Israeli officials said Netanyahu, who is reluctant to make concessions to the Palestinians, agreed to the talks in part because of international pressure on Israel.
Netanyahu will seek security guarantees not only from the Palestinians, but from the international community as well. The prime minister is concerned about Iran’s rising influence and the possibility that Hamas militants, who now control Gaza, could also overtake the West Bank.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal deliberations.
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