Israeli, Palestinian Leaders Likely to Meet Soon, Both Sides Say
World Digest
Washington Post
August 27, 2009
Israeli-Palestinian Talks Deemed Likely
The Israeli and Palestinian leaders are likely to hold their first meeting in the coming weeks, both sides indicated Wednesday, in what would be an important step toward a formal resumption of peace talks and a signal achievement for President Obama.
The indications came as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held four hours of talks with Obama’s Middle East envoy, former senator George J. Mitchell, in London on Wednesday. Mitchell has been pressing Israel to halt construction of West Bank settlements as a confidence-building gesture toward the Palestinians, and the issue has turned into an unusually public disagreement between the two allies.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, has said he will not resume peace talks until Israel freezes settlements, and he reiterated that position Wednesday. But the Israelis have hinted strongly that Netanyahu could meet Abbas next month at the U.N. General Assembly, and on Wednesday, Palestinian officials in the West Bank said for the first time that a meeting was likely.
Israel and the United States have been suggesting that they are close to an agreement that would allow the resumption of peace talks. But in a joint statement released by the State Department after the meeting between Netanyahu and Mitchell, the two men said only that they had “made good progress” in talks and that they “agreed on the importance of restarting meaningful negotiations.”
– Associated Press
© 2009 The Washington Post Company
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