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Palestinians are expected to join Israel in indirect peace talks

04 March 2010 00:54 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The Arab League endorses the U.S. proposal, paving the way for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to say yes, APA reports quoting â€œLos Angeles Timesâ€.
Reporting from Jerusalem - A year after peace talks collapsed, Israelis and Palestinians appear headed back to the negotiating table -- just not the same table.

A U.S.-backed proposal to launch so-called proximity talks moved forward Wednesday when the Arab League gave its blessing for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to join the effort.

Under the American plan, U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell will meet separately with Israelis and Palestinians in the hopes of narrowing their differences and getting both sides back in the same room. Analysts call it an incremental step, but perhaps better than nothing.

Palestinians are refusing to resume face-to-face talks until Israel halts settlement construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a 10-month moratorium on some Jewish construction in the West Bank, but has pushed forward with housing projects in disputed parts of Jerusalem.

Abbas, who was in Cairo this week to confer with Arab leaders, had signaled that he would follow the recommendation of the Arab League. Palestinian officials are scheduled to meet over the weekend, when they are expected to formally announce their participation in the U.S.-brokered process.

Israeli officials welcomed the news.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu for months now has been calling for talks and we now hope that it will indeed be possible to move forward," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said.

But both sides remain skeptical about whether indirect talks will yield results.

In its statement, the Arab League said it was endorsing the U.S. plan "despite the lack of conviction in the seriousness of the Israeli side."

The group of 14 Arab nations suggested a four-month deadline, after which Palestinians should evaluate whether to continue.

Many here see indirect talks as little progress in light of the fact that Israelis and Palestinians have been negotiating face to face for decades. Some analysts warned that a collapse of proximity talks could even make the situation worse by heightening frustrations or triggering more violence.

Said one senior Israeli official privately, "This is not our idea. But maybe it will serve as a corridor to restarting talks."