Washington Grants PA Few Months to Return to Negotiations

Arab World

March 7th, 9:31am

Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat

David Friedman prepares to testify before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination to be US ambassador to Israel, on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

The US administration granted the Palestinian Authority (PA) "few months” to return to peace talks with Israel, according to US and Israeli sources in Tel Aviv. Washington warned that its current peace plan will move forward if the Palestinians continue to reject negotiations. “If Palestinians continue to refuse to negotiate on the Deal of the Century, the US administration will announce its approval of the Israeli unilateral measures,” sources noted, including imposing sovereignty all over the West Bank settlements and annexing the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea regions, they explained. According to the Israeli TV Channel 13, senior US officials affirmed sending this message to the PA recently, noting that they are determined to agree on Israeli annexation measures within few months if the Palestinians do not return to the negotiating table. They reportedly stressed that this would happen even if there was a call for fourth Knesset elections after the last vote was deadlocked. However, US President Donald Trump and his advisers hope that the results of the recent elections will lead to the formation of a stable government in Israel. They added that both Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival, Benny Gantz, know that Trump’s presidency marks a unique opportunity. “Nobody can say we didn’t give the Palestinians a chance to go back to negotiations. If they want to talk we are ready. We think we can make it better for them, but if not, the world is going to move on without them. We are going to keep moving forward,” Chanel 13 quoted a US official as saying. “The Palestinians could improve the proposal by negotiating, but it will otherwise move ahead without their input.” Palestinians have rejected the US peace plan, which envisions the creation of a Palestinian state in about 70 percent of the West Bank, a small handful of neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, most of Gaza and some areas of southern Israel — if the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, disarm Hamas and other groups in the coastal enclave, and fulfill other conditions. The plan allows Israel to annex settlements, grants the Jewish state sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, override security control west of the Jordan River and bars Palestinians from settling in Israel.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2167546/washington-grants-pa-few-months-return-negotiations