America will Intervene with own Peace Plan by January if Talks Fail

by Israel Hayom Staff and Shlomo Cesana

Meretz Chairwoman MK Zehava Gal-On meets with senior Palestinian and American officials, learns about plans for American intervention in peace talks in 2014 • Gal-On: U.S. moving from coordination to intervention • No more interim agreements.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sunday | Photo credit: AP

After meeting with senior Palestinian and American officials, Meretz Chairwoman MK Zehava Gal-On released a statement Monday saying that the Americans are "moving from a coordination phase between the two sides to an intervention phase."

The new plan, expected to be presented in January 2014, will follow the "Clinton parameters," according to Gal-On and her policy advisor Ilan Baruch. It will address all the core issues, and will be "based on the '67 lines with agreed land swaps."

Also revealed in Gal-On's meetings with senior officials: U.S. President Barack Obama will continue to pressure Ramallah and Jerusalem to reach a breakthrough in negotiations by the second quarter of 2014. 

Gal-On's statement further asserted that the Americans believe that both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have the political credit necessary to forge an agreement. However, public skepticism on both sides has justified the American preparation to intervene if the talks reach a crisis.

Gal-On added that, in anticipation of a deadlock, the U.S. is expected to lay out a draft plan as early as January, complete with a schedule for talks and additionally addressing the points of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

Finally, these talks will not lead to another interim agreement, Gal-On's statement explained, as the Americans have accepted that Abbas will no longer be able to drum up public support for anything short of a permanent agreement.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu, in his Rome meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry last week, refused an American proposal to station American forces in the Jordan Valley or to allow other international troops to maintain the security along the eastern border. 

During the seven-hour meeting, Kerry attempted to finish outlining the borders for the future Palestinian state.

The prime minister drew the outline first. In Netanyahu's map, the Palestinian state is farther away from the Jordan Valley, is surrounded on all sides by areas under Israeli sovereignty, is demilitarized, and preserves for Israel the greater Jerusalem area and the Jewish settlement blocs. The Palestinians, for their part, are thought to be unwilling to give up a state that does not stretch to the Jordan River, nor will they agree to not control the northern Dead Sea area.

Israel Hayom Staff and Shlomo Cesana

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=13091

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