'Come dine with me', for peace's sake

31 July 2013 - 02:15 By Reuters
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The Shuafat refugee camp behind a section of the controversial Israeli barrier in the West Bank. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators this week met at the negotiating table for the first time in three years
The Shuafat refugee camp behind a section of the controversial Israeli barrier in the West Bank. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators this week met at the negotiating table for the first time in three years
Image: AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators held their first peace talks in nearly three years this week in a US-brokered effort that secretary of state John Kerry hopes will end conflict despite deep divisions.

Top aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas began the talks over an Iftar dinner - the evening meal with which Muslims break their daily fast during Ramadan - hosted by Kerry at the US State Department.

Kerry, who has prodded, coaxed and cajoled the two sides to resume negotiations in a flurry of visits to the Middle East during his less than six months in office, urged Israelis and Palestinians to strike "reasonable compromises".

It was clear, however, from some public statements over the agenda for the talks - which are expected to run for nine months - and comments by Abbas, that there are major disagreements over issues such as borders and security.

''It is no secret that this is a difficult process. If it were easy, it would have happened a long time ago," Kerry said with his newly named envoy for Israeli-Palestinian peace, former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, at his side.

"Many difficult choices lie ahead for the negotiators and for the leaders as we seek reasonable compromises on tough, complicated, emotional and symbolic issues," Kerry added.

The talks started over dinner with Israel represented by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Yitzhak Molcho, a close aide to Netanyahu, and the Palestinians by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and Mohammed Ishtyeh.

As the sides came together in Washington on Monday Kerry met separately with each, starting with the Israelis, before all came together around the dinner table. Kerry and his delegation of four, including new envoy Indyk, were seated on one side of the table and their guests on the other side, with main negotiators Livni and Erekat seated side by side.

"It's very, very special to be here," Kerry told his guests. "There isn't very much to talk about at all," he joked.

The parties have publicly sparred over how the negotiations will unfold, with an Israeli official saying all issues would be discussed simultaneously and a Palestinian official saying they would start with borders and security.

Speaking in Cairo on Monday, Abbas struck a hard line, saying that, ultimately, he did not want a single Israeli citizen or soldier on Palestinian land. His comments were made despite Kerry's wish that both sides refrain from talking publicly about issues.

Israel has previously said it wants to maintain a military presence in the occupied West Bank at the border with Jordan to prevent any influx of weapons that could be used against it.

"In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli - civilian or soldier - on our lands," Abbas said.

Livni voiced some hope about the talks. "It is not a favour to the United States or to the Palestinians, this is something that we need to do," she said.

The US is seeking to broker an agreement on a "two-state solution" in which Israel would exist alongside a new Palestinian state created in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, lands occupied since 1967.

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