by Shlomo Cesana
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Arab League foreign ministers in Paris, briefs them on progress made in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks • Arab League pledges to "provide whatever support may be necessary to achieve just and lasting peace."
Chief Palestinian Negotiator
Saeb Erekat, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Justice Minister
Tzipi Livni
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Photo credit: AP  |
Israel and the Palestinian Authority should
strive to strike a permanent peace agreement within nine months, a
statement by the U.S. State Department said Sunday. The statement was
released shortly after Secretary of State John Kerry met in Paris with a
ministerial delegation assigned by the Arab League’s Peace Initiative
Committee.
The delegation included the foreign ministers
and permanent Arab League representatives of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan,
Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates, and was chaired by Arab League Secretary-General
Nabil Elaraby.
The meeting was held after Kerry had met with
Martin Indyk, Washington's special envoy to the Middle East. According
to the State Department's statement, Kerry briefed the Arab League
delegation on the ongoing permanent status negotiations between the PA
and Israel and reiterated the U.S.'s commitment "to pursuing intensive
negotiations to end the conflict through a permanent status agreement."
He also updated the delegation on the plans to
promote investment and economic growth for the Palestinian people. The
delegation expressed its full support for Kerry's efforts and for the
agreed upon nine month timeline.
The statement added that the Arab League's
delegation "expressed concern about continued Israeli settlement
activity and unilateral Israeli actions in Jerusalem that create a
negative environment. The delegation hopes that the ongoing negotiations
will lead to a resolution that achieves a just and lasting peace
through resolving all permanent status issues as a major step towards
comprehensive Middle East Peace, which will contribute to regional
security and stability."
The Arab League, the statement added,
"expressed its willingness to provide whatever support may be necessary
to achieve this outcome including economic support for the Palestinian
Authority and the Palestinian Economic Initiative."
In early August, as the Israeli-Palestinian
peace talks resumed, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the
current round of negotiations was the "beginning of final-status
arrangements on a nine-month timetable." She stressed that both parties
"have agreed to a timetable … but it is not a deadline -- it is an
agreement that they will work together for at least this period."
Shlomo Cesana
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=11861
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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