The status of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks remained unclear through much of Thursday, amid the publication of conflicting reports describing not just ongoing meetings but also regarding proposals to extend negotiations beyond the original April 29 deadline of a U.S.-backed peace push.
Substantive final status negotiations have been offline since last Tuesday, when Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas announced at a rushed press conference that the Palestinians would seek to join 15 international treaties. The move violated the specific terms of an agreement secured by Secretary of State John Kerry, under which the Palestinians would refrain from turning to the United Nations for the duration of a nine-month negotiation window, and very likely abrogated a core Oslo Accord commitment to avoid unilateral moves that would upgrade the status of disputed territories.
Israel subsequently responded by cutting off high-level discussions, except those related to security issues and the peace process. Jerusalem also raised the possibility of cutting off aid to the Abbas-led Palestinian government, a possibility that sent the Palestinian leader scrambling for Arab League assistance.
Some reports today had the Palestinians closer to agreeing to renewing talks, while others had them as far away as ever. One widely broadcasted report said that the Israelis had agreed to free 26 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for concessions from the U.S. and further talks with the Palestinians:
An unnamed source told Al Arabiya that a deal has been reached to extend peace talks, but all three parties have since downplayed the claim as premature, but the US did say “gaps were narrowing” in talks.
According to the Al Arabiya report, the deal will see a number of Palestinian prisoners freed and a freeze on West Bank settlement construction. In return, the Palestinians will suspend their plans to join 15 international bodies.
To sweeten the deal for Israel, the source claimed the US has promised to release jailed US-Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.
The Al Arabiya report was flatly denied by State Department officials:
Reports of deal to extend #Israel–#Palestinian peace talks “premature,” @statedeptspox says. Indyk to return to DC, to go back next week.
— Matt Lee (@APDiploWriter) April 10, 2014
The Palestinian decision to accede to the various treaties, however, has established a timeline that may irreversibly – and perhaps terminally – undermine talks. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon confirmed today that Palestinian requests to join 10 U.N.-specific treaties will be granted on May 2nd, one month after they were officially submitted. It is not clear how such a move could be reversed once it’s locked in, and it is difficult to see how Jerusalem could accept a Palestinian gambit that, first, pocketed decades of Israeli territorial and security concessions and, second, reversed central Palestinian commitments.
[Photo: Photos GOVBA / Flickr ]