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Recent murders against Israelis spark calls on boycotting peace talks

15 October 2013 01:46 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Recent murders and attacks carried out by Palestinians against Israelis in the West Bank have prompted right wing politicians to call out against the release of more Palestinian prisoners and the continuation of the peace talks, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

As the negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians continue shrouded in secret, with only minor details leaking to the public since they began three months ago, the general feeling among both sides is that little progress is being made.

The recent murders of three Israelis and the attempted murder against a nine-year-old settler in the West Bank are raising concern, especially among the right wing lawmakers, that the peace talks are heading nowhere.

"Again Palestinians are translating our desire for peace as weakness and are answering with murder," Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev Elkin from the Likud party told Israeli media last week, while Deputy Defense Minister Danny Dannon, also from Likud, blamed the attacks on Palestinian incitement and asked the government to block the prisoner release and cancel the negotiations.

Other prominent right wing politicians like Naftali Bennett from the Jewish Home party have asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayahu to retract on the release of the prisoners and the ongoing peace talks.

Israel agreed to release 104 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails as a sign of goodwill to the Palestinian government in July, releasing the first round in August.

"I don't think these recent murders will really affect negotiations, but the truth is that hardly anyone really knows what is being discussed between Israel and the Palestinians, we are only hearing rumors. But as far as what I can hear, there is not much headway being made," Einat Wilf, former Knesset (Israeli parliament) member and former foreign affairs and defense committee for the Labor party, told Xinhua on Monday.

According to other experts, there is much more than it seems bubbling under the political surface.

"There is some progress being made, but the leaks to the press are not really all that true," Gil Hoffman, a political analyst in the Israeli media, told Xinhua.

"This time around the U.S. is much more involved than in 2010 and they are really behind the Israelis and the Palestinians, pushing for it. Also, this time, they didn't make the mistake of insisting on a settlement freeze, an excuse that the Palestinian government uses each time to cancel any progress in the negotiations," Hoffman said.