348
Itongadol.- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, to discuss the peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
Israeli and American officials said the meeting, which began at 11 A.M. (Israel time) focused on the details of the draft framework agreement that Kerry wants to present within a few weeks. The document would address all the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and become the basis for future negotiations.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who leads negotiations with the Palestinians, and Netanyahu\’s special envoy Isaac Molho met with Kerry in Washington on Monday to lay the groundwork ahead for the Netanyahu-Kerry meet.
Livni and Molho on Tuesday met with American mediator Martin Indyk, and continued to narrow the differences between Israel and the Palestinians regarding parts of the framework agreement.
Kerry is expected to mention the peace process in his speech in Davos later on Friday.
The U.S. secretary of state on Thursday told Al Arabiya that, at this stage, the sides were unable to bridge the differences and agree on a draft agreement.
"We’re still negotiating," he said. "We’re working in good faith with both of the parties. The leaders have been very, very committed to this process. My hope is we can achieve the framework for final status negotiations. But it’s very, very difficult and we have a lot of work to do."
The framework agreement, Kerry noted, would clarify how both sides see a final peace deal and the end of the conflict.
"The framework agreement would be the best thinking of both parties as to what the endgame of a peace agreement could look like and what they would agree to as a matter of principles as to how they would negotiate towards that endgame final status agreement… we don’t want an interim agreement – but … a final status agreement where you have end of conflict, end of claims, there’s a Palestinian state, there’s an end of occupation, and security for Israel is clear, and people can see the future."
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat is expected to visit Washington next week for similar talks with the U.S. administration.