U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is moving back and forth between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators with a stated goal of finalizing a peace accord by spring.
Kerry will hold private talks today and Friday with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on regarding a West Bank security plan. Kerry had unveiled details of the plan for the West Bank during a visit to the region last week.
Palestinians expressed their dislike of the proposed agreement. They expressed concerns that the deal will give in to Israeli demands while offering only promises to the Palestinian people.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the negotiations were really an “ongoing discussion” and that “we expect they wil talk about security, as they will discuss other issues.”
President Obama had said over the weekend he believed it was possible to get the framework of a deal together in just a few months.
The wife of an American pastor imprisoned in Iran for being a Christian is outraged that the Obama Administration did nothing to secure her husband’s release while in talks over that country’s nuclear program.
The White House confirmed over the weekend that they made no efforts at all to secure the release of Saeed Abedini during the nuclear negotiations.
“It’s unbearable,” Naghmeh Abedini said to Fox News, “to think of another Christmas without him and see my kids not have him home for Christmas.”
Abedini’s supporters say the deal with Iran takes America’s best leverage off the table for the release of the persecuted pastor.
Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law And Justice said that President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have “turned their backs on a U.S. citizen.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his housing minister to take a second look at plans to build more than 20,000 new homes in the West Bank.
Netanyahu said the move would create an unnecessary confrontation with the international community at the same time the Israeli government is asking the west to not make a deal easing sanctions on Iran.
The Palestinians said they would appeal any construction by the Israelis to the U.N. and that they would immediately end peace talks.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week said any settlement activity by Israel would be “illegitimate” and state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. would be seeking further explanation from the Israelis on the construction issue.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with leaders of Israel and Palestine Wednesday in attempts to move peace talks through stumbling blocks.
However, sources close to the negotiations say that both sides have brought up new issues that could possibly derail the talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed concerns to Kerry.
“I’m concerned about their progress because I see the Palestinians continuing with incitements, continuing to create artificial crises, continuing to avoid and run away from the historic decisions that are needed to make a genuine peace,” Netanyahu said.
The Palestinians objected to new Israeli construction on the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Kerry also announced $75 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority’s High Impact Micro-Infrastructure Initiative.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Israel and plans to meet with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an attempt to restart the stalled peace talks.
“I come here without any illusions about the difficulties, but I come here determined to work,” Kerry told reporters.
The talks have shown little signs of progress and Kerry is denying speculation that he is proposing a new interim peace deal. Kerry is expected to continue to push the Obama administration’s “two state” solution for the region.
Kerry will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem on Wednesday.
Israel is demanding that any peace deal include Palestinian acknowledgement of Israel as a Jewish state.