Erekat: US efforts to jumpstart Israeli-Palestinian talks hit 'dead end'
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said today that Obama's efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have hit a dead end. His comments reflect dwindling Palestinian hopes for a two-state solution.
US Mideast envoy George Mitchell, left, shakes hands with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat in the West Bank city of Ramallah, in this March 8 file photo. Mr. Erekat said, on Tuesday, that recent US efforts to get the two sides back to the negotiating table had reached a 'dead end.'
Nasser Ishtayeh/AP/File
Jerusalem
The White House has hit a wall in its attempts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a senior Palestinian official said Tuesday.
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said that recent US efforts to get the two sides back to the negotiating table – or at least nearby tables as part of proximity talks – had reached a "dead end."
"It appears that all the consultations that have happened with the Israeli government and the American administration and other states have reached a dead end, with Israeli positions insisting on a continuation of settlement," Dr. Erekat said on the Voice of Palestine Radio today.
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As Palestinians have become increasingly disillusioned with a negotiated two-state solution, they have gravitated toward two main alternatives: unilaterally declare statehood, or back a "one-state solution" in which a common border and higher Arab birthrates would force Israel to become either non-Jewish or non-democratic.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman today warned Palestinians against the first option – declaring independence unilaterally – saying that in response Israel could annex part of the West Bank or back out of peace agreements including the Oslo Accords.
