A16 The World
EZ RE
KLMNO
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2010
Despite fanfare, Mideast peace talks quickly run aground
End of settlement freeze blamed, but many say problems run deeper
BY GLENN KESSLER AND JANINE ZACHARIA
In perhaps the shortest round
of peace negotiations in the his- tory of their conflict, talks be- tween the Israelis and Palestin- ians have ground to a halt and show little sign of resuming. Israeli Prime Minister Bin-
HAZEM BADER/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE VIA GETTY IMAGES Israeli soldiers arrest a Palestinian youth who was throwing rocks during a protest near the settlement of Karmi Tsour in theWest Bank.
yamin Netanyahu and Palestin- ian Authority President Mah- moud Abbas haven’t met since Secretary of State Hillary Rod- ham Clinton brought the two together on Sept. 15 in Jerusalem, twoweeks after PresidentObama launched the resumption of ne- gotiations on Palestinian state- hood in Washington with much fanfare, including the presence of Egyptian President HosniMuba- rak and King Abdullah II of Jordan. Now, the nearly six-week
pause threatens to become per- manent. Pressure to restart the talks
eased after the Arab League said it would wait a month — until Nov. 8 — before ending Abbas’s mandate for negotiations, thus pushing the issue beyond theU.S. midterm elections. But if Repub- licans score big gains, some Israe- lis argue, that could limit Obama’s ability to pressure Israel to make concessions. U.S. peace envoy George J. Mitchell is sup- posed to return to the region, but no date has been set. In a speechWednesday to Pal-
estinian peace activists, Clinton acknowledged that “I cannot stand here tonight and tell you there is somemagic formula that I have discovered that will break through the current impasse.” While the administration has
set a goal of achieving an agree- ment less than 11 months from now, Clinton at one point sug- gested amuch longer time frame: “The future holds the possibility ofprogress, ifnot inour lifetimes, then certainly in our children’s.” The proximate cause of the
breakdown is Israel’s decision not to extend a 10-month partial freeze of settlement building on Palestinian lands, but in the view of many analysts, the problems gomuch deeper.
Momentumfails The Obama administration,
worried that the impending end of the settlement freeze would leave a potentially dangerous vacuum, rushed into talks with- out a plan for dealing with the end of the moratorium, officials acknowledge. The hope was that sheer momentum would carry the talks forward. That decision has come with
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costs, including some blows to Obama’s credibility. The presi- dent invested his personal pres- tige in launching the talks, and even appealed to Israel to extend the freeze during a speech at the U.N. General Assembly. The Palestinians, taking their
cue from previous administra- tion statements, have made a settlement freeze a key require- ment for continued talks, so any reversal in that stance would make them appear weak. Netan- yahu, concerned about the im- pact an extension of the freeze would have on his right-leaning coalition, has put new demands on the table, such as upfront Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. “We knew exactly what might
happen. We understood that the moratorium would be the first challenge right out of the box,” said State Department spokes- man P.J. Crowley. “That’s why we set an early pace to be able to demonstrate to the parties that
there was value in working to resolve the settlement moratori- um. The decision to continue the negotiations rests with the par- ties. We knew full well we could not dictate what they could or would do based on their internal politics.” Administration officials have
privately approached both sides with sweeteners to induce them back to the table. To buy 60 days more for a settlement freeze from Israel, the administration floated a long list of security incentives. When Netanyahu didn’t bite, Ab- bas was wooed with something he had long demanded — a U.S. commitment to begin the negoti- ations using the map of Israel before the 1967 Six-DayWar. But that effort did not move the Palestinians. U.S. officials hope that if they
manage to get a two-month ex- tension, they could quickly push the two sides to reach a deal on borders, or at least identifywhich settlements would ultimately re- main with Israel, thus making the settlement disputemoot. But few experts — or Israeli or Pales- tinian officials—say they believe such an agreement could be reached so quickly.
Settlement a roadblock Netanyahu has told associates
he personally wouldn’t mind ex- tending the freeze in the West Bank. But he thinks he won’t be able to sell it domestically with- out anything concrete from the Palestinians in return, an Israeli official said. The package of pro- posed security guarantees from the United States wasn’t enough, he added, and Netanyahu would prefer to discuss all concessions in tandem and then put forth a comprehensive deal to the Israeli public. That logichas failed to impress
many commentators in Israel who worry that Netanyahu is endangering Israel’s security and its relationship withWashington with diplomatic maneuvering that appears to be more tactical than designed to broker a histor- ic peace agreement. Citing new figures showing
housing starts soaring in West Bank settlements and a general impression that Netanyahu has no intention of surrendering ter- ritory and making a peace deal, Palestinian negotiators have grown dismissive of the prospect of a negotiated solution. Asked whether he was still a
member of the Palestinian nego- tiating team, Muhammad Shatayeh said Friday by tele- phone: “That’s right. But there are no negotiations.’’ Apart from a phone call
Wednesday from Mitchell to Ab- bas, nothing is happening, he said. “These people, Uzi Arad and
others, their priority is actually not the Palestinian issue,’’ Shatayeh said of Netanyahu’s na- tional security adviser, who has said publicly in recent months that it was a mistake to try to negotiate a peace deal with the Palestinians. “Of course it is Iran.’’ Reflecting the faltering faith in
the Obama administration’s abil- ity to broker a settlement, Shatayeh said the Palestinians could appeal to the United States and the United Nations to recog- nize an independent Palestinian state soon. “We are going to go to Wash-
ington to recognize a Palestinian state on 1967 borders. If that doesn’t work, we’ll go to the U.N. Security Council and will ask Washington not to veto,’’ Shatayeh said. IfWashington ve- toes, he said, then the Palestin- ians will take their case to the U.N. General Assembly.
kesslerg@washpost.com zachariaj@washpost.com
Zacharia reported fromJerusalem.
European Commission warns Italy about Naples trash crisis
BY NICOLEWINFIELD The European Commission
warned Italy on Saturday that it may face sanctions if it does not remove 2,400 tons of trash piled upinthe streets ofNaples. Formore than a week, protest-
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ers in Terzigno, a small town near Naples, have torched vehicles, burned Italian flags and hurled stonesandfirecrackersatpoliceto protest the stench and filth at a local dump and plans to open a newdumping site. Clashes continued overnight,
but the situation around Terzigno was calm Saturday, news reports said. Pope Benedict XVI weighed in
Saturday, saying he was praying for a “fair and mutually agreed upon solution to the problem,” according to a message received by the localdiocese. European Environment Com-
missioner Janez Potocnik said the clashes over where to dump Na- ples’s waste showed that Italy has not taken sufficient measures since the last garbage crisis flared in2007.
—AssociatedPress
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