Itongadol.- US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Friday on one of the snowiest days that the capital has seen in recent memory.
John Kerry returned to the region for the 11th time this year, this time going directly to Ramallah for a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in what appears to be an effort to soften him to US security ideas presented last week to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Kerry, speaking after meeting with the two leaders, told reporters a final Middle East peace deal was still scheduled to be achieved by the end of April, and that Israel would release more Palestinian prisoners on Dec. 29.
"We\’re not talking at this point about any shifts (in the scheduled deadline) and the next tranche of prisoners is due to take place on 29th of December and it will take place then."
Israel has freed about half the 104 prisoners it had pledged to release from its jails under the deal secured by Kerry in July to renew negotiations that had been deadlocked for nearly three years.
Speaking to cameras in the capital before their meeting Friday, the two leaders made more references to the raging storm outside than anything else.
"Jerusalem was under siege once in antiquity. We’re celebrating – we’re commemorating that today. It’s under a snow siege today," Netanyahu quipped.
Kerry thanked Netanyahu for his welcome to Israel. "I’ve heard of making your guests welcome and feeling at home. This is about as far as I’ve ever seen anybody go, giving me a nice New England snow storm," he said.
The storm, named Alexa, is expected to last until Saturday, bringing more snow, rain and freezing temperatures to large swathes of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Kerry thanked the Israeli police and the Palestinian efforts for getting him back from Ramallah to Jerusalem on Thursday night on roads that he described as being "very tough."
On his way to the Far East, Kerry said he wanted to come to Israel and the West Bank "in an effort to try to continue our important discussions."
Kerry called the visit constructive. "It’s always complicated, but I look forward to having some good talks this morning after meeting with President Abbas last night. We have a lot to talk about, and we will continue this process."
The Prime Minister said he was looking forward to discussing with Kerry how to advance the goals of peace and security.