Brussels, 12/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - Representatives of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet were due to meet in Washington for a second day on 12 July after failing to agree on a way publicly to encourage Israel and the Palestinians to resume long-stalled peace talks. Frustrated by the stalemate in negotiations with Israel, the Palestinians plan to apply this month for UN membership, and the recognition of their state based on the borders as they stood prior to the Arab-Israeli war in 1967. They had hoped that the Quartet - composed of the European Union, United Nations, United States and Russia - would release a statement on Monday 11 July pushing Israel back to the negotiating table. However no statement was published after a working dinner involving EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Senior US officials, quoted by news wires, said the Quartet wanted to “do more work privately, quietly with the parties; in order to see if we can't close these gaps” in the positions of the two sides. “If we're successful in doing that, there'll be a time in which incorporating our progress and commenting on it public can help capture that”.
Palestinian UN membership, which would in effect mean that the occupied territories are recognised as an independent state, must first be voted through by the UN Security Council. Israel is opposed, and its staunch ally the United States has already made clear its opposition and is likely to veto the move outright. The Palestinians and the Arab League are expected to decide on Saturday 16 July when to submit the application. If it were to be accepted, the UN General Assembly could vote on the matter during its next session, which starts in mid-September.
Some European nations are desperate to head off that move, and Ashton has been working hard to try to get the Quartet to meet. Given the social upheaval from the Arab Spring uprisings, some officials fear that any unilateral Palestinian move at the United Nations could provoke a new Intifada, potentially the third Palestinian uprising. These Quartet talks in Washington are likely to be the last before September, and possibly the last chance to encourage the two sides to return to the table. New talks could then see the Palestinians postpone their UN demands.
The last series of peace talks broke down in September 2010, after Israel refused to renew a partial freeze on settlement building. But the problems run deeper. Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, currently visiting Bulgaria and Romania in an effort to encourage them to vote against any independence move, insists that the Palestinians must recognise Israel as a Jewish state. Israel wants sovereignty over east Jerusalem, and refuses to accept any Palestinian refugees.
For France, it is still “a little early to speak of impasse” on the Middle East, the French Foreign Ministry stated on Tuesday. “To our knowledge, discussions are continuing. We hope that the Quartet will call for a resumption of the (Israel-Palestinian) negotiations based on parameters that are sufficiently precise and balanced that they will be acceptable to both parties, similar to those underpinning our initiative”, the ministry spokesman said. (LoC)