Netanyahu 'interim' deal blasted by Palestinians

(AFP)

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that an "interim agreement" with the Palestinians could be a solution if efforts to clinch a comprehensive peace accord fail.

But his suggestion was swiftly rejected by the Palestinians who insisted on an overall agreement that would take into account the fate of Palestinian refugees and the thorny issue of Jerusalem.

"There could be an situation in which talks with the Palestinians hit a brick wall over the issues of Jerusalem and the right of return (of refugees), and in that case the result would be an interim agreement," Netanyahu said in an interview on Channel 10 private television.

"It certainly is a possibility," the prime minister said.

"But if the Palestinians accept a demilitarised state and renounce de facto to the right of return, I'll go all the way and I think that the majority of the country (Israel) will follow me," Netanyahu added.

A spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas shot down the suggestion.

"For the Palestinians, any suggestion of reaching an interim agreement is unacceptable because it omits Jerusalem and the issue of refugees," spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat also dismissed Netanyahu's suggestion, saying: "interim solutions are rejected part and parcel."

"It's now time for final solutions that include Jerusalem, refugees, borders, security, settlements, water and the release of all Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails," he said.

Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the first for nearly two years, began in Washington on September 2. But they stalled when a partial 10-month freeze on Israeli settlement building expired on September 26.

The Palestinians refused to resume negotiations without a new moratorium and Washington admitted on December 7 that it had failed to convince Israel to renew the building curbs.

Palestinian negotiators have emphasised a set of alternatives to new talks, including seeking recognition of a Palestinian state along the borders that existed in 1967, before the Six Day War.

Clinton: U.S. can't force Israel, Palestinians into peace talks



U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday acknowledged frustration in the Middle East over the delay in restarting Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, but said that the Obama administration could not "force" the sides into reaching a solution.

"This is hard work," Clinton said at the beginning of a three-day visit to the region. "I know people are disappointed that we have not yet achieved a breakthrough."

"But we must remember that neither the United States nor any country can force a solution. The parties must resolve their differences through negotiations," she added.

A year of U.S. diplomatic efforts has so far failed to revive talks aimed at ending the six-decade conflict through a peace treaty that would create a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The U.S. recently offered to bring the Palestinians and Israelis into "proximity talks", with a U.S. mediator shuttling between negotiating teams to restart the talks that broke down at the start of a war in Gaza in December 2008.

President Barack Obama's special Mideast envoy George Mitchell, came to the region last month for separate meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in another effort to see the talks re-launched.

Clinton planned during her visit to discuss how Arab states might give
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas political cover to help him resume peace talks despite his insistence that Israel first embark on a full freeze in West Bank settlements