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Israeli ruling coalition wobbles as U.S. peace proposal looms

29 January 2014 20:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A pending U.S. framework proposal to propel stumbling Israeli-Palestinian peace talks forward chipped away on Wednesday at a troubled alliance between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an ultranationalist ally in his governing coalition, APA reports quoting Reuters.

No date has been announced for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to unveil his blueprint, but new skirmishing between the prime minister and far-right partner Naftali Bennett suggested crunch time was near.

Bennett's Jewish Home party advocates annexation of some of the West Bank - occupied territory that Palestinians seek for a state - and it has threatened to end its partnership with Netanyahu if, he says, any handover of land of biblical significance to Jews were in the offing.

In a hard-hitting speech to an international security conference on Tuesday, Bennett aired veiled criticism of Netanyahu - sending a signal that he believed the Israeli leader was primed to accept Kerry's peace guidelines.

"Neither our forefathers nor our descendants will forgive the Israeli leader who gives away our land and divides our capital," said Bennett, an Orthodox Jew who often emphasizes a biblical connection to the West Bank and Jerusalem.

In a speech at the same Tel Aviv security forum, Netanyahu said Kerry would offer "American positions" and that "Israel does not have to agree to anything the Americans present".

Israeli officials, speaking anonymously, were livid over Bennett's accusations. A senior member of Jewish Home, Housing Minister Uri Ariel, told Israel Radio on Wednesday he was mediating a "crisis" between Bennett and Netanyahu.

Amid the bickering, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman laid out the broad outlines of what he said was the "expected" Kerry framework proposal. An Israeli political source gave a similar account.