The Israeli government and Palestinian leadership are expected to respond to Friday’s proposal by, the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia, but early signals suggest different approaches to the initiative.
The proposal calls for a meeting within a month to agree on the agenda and method of negotiations to reach an accord by the end of next year. It also calls on both sides to produce proposals on the issues of territory and security within three months and make substantial progress within six months, bolstered by an international conference in Moscow.
“If the intention is to enter into serious negotiations without preconditions, I think this is something welcome and something important, and we will go with it,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu has repeatedly called for an immediate resumption of direct negotiations.
The Palestinian statehood application is likely headed for lengthy deliberations at the Security Council and ultimately faces a veto. The Palestinians could then seek to upgrade their status to a non-voting observer state at the General Assembly, where there is no veto and they enjoy broad support.
However, Palestinian Authority President Abbas told a welcome rally on his return to the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday that in order for negotiations to resume, Israel had to stop settlement construction on land the Palestinians are seeking for a future state. An action that is very unlikely to occur in the near future.
(아주경제 앤드류 이 기자)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com