Saturday, April 5, 2014

Kerry Warns Israel: US Patience Running Out



Kerry Warns Israel: US Patience Running Out

Friday, 04 Apr 2014 06:30 PM
Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday Washington was evaluating whether to continue its role in Middle East peace talks, signaling his patience with the Israelis and Palestinians was running out.

Speaking during a visit to Morocco after a week of setbacks, Kerry said there was a limit to U.S. efforts if the parties themselves were unwilling to move forward.

"This is not an open-ended effort, it never has been. It is reality check time, and we intend to evaluate precisely what the next steps will be," Kerry said, adding he would return to Washington on Friday to consult with the Obama administration.

U.S. officials say Kerry had been blindsided by recent Israeli and Palestinian moves that had compromised undertakings made when they launched the latest round of talks aimed at ending their enduring conflict last July.

"They say they want to continue, neither party has said they have called it off, but we are not going to sit there indefinitely," Kerry said, making his bleakest assessment yet of talks that he has dedicated a huge amount of energy to.

The negotiations were catapulted into crisis at the weekend when Israel refused to act on a previously agreed release of Palestinian prisoners unless it had assurances the Palestinians would continue talks beyond an initial end-April deadline.

Kerry flew to Jerusalem to try to find a solution. Just when he believed a convoluted deal was within reach, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed 15 international treaties, making clear he was ready to beat a unilateral path to world bodies unless he saw more movement from the Israelis.

A senior Palestinian official, Nabil Shaath, told Reuters that Abbas had not intended to upset Kerry, but rather to shine a spotlight on Israel's failure to release the prisoners.

"I think (Kerry) will return because we have not abandoned the process," said the veteran negotiator, speaking in Ramallah, the Palestinians' administrative capital in the West Bank.

"We will continue these negotiations as we agreed, and I wish for once that America's patience runs out — with Israel and not the Palestinians," he added.

With both sides looking to blame the other for the impasse, Israel's centrist finance minister, Yair Lapid, said he questioned whether Abbas wanted a deal, pointing to a lengthy list of Palestinian demands published on Maan news agency.

These included lifting a blockade on the Gaza Strip, and freeing a group of high profile prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti, jailed a decade ago over a spate of suicide bombings.

"(Abbas) should know that at this point in time his demands are working against him. No Israeli will negotiate with him at any price," said Lapid, one of the more moderate voices within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rightist coalition.

Kerry has spent much of his first year as America's top diplomat invested in the Middle East peace process, and has visited the region more than a dozen times.

He broke off twice from his current 12-day trip in Europe and the Middle East to see Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an apparently effort to salvage the peace negotiations.

The talks have struggled from the start, stalling over Palestinian opposition to Israel's demand that it be recognized as a Jewish state, and over the issue of fast-growing Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Palestinians want an independent state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem — lands captured by Israel in the 1967 war. While all parties say negotiations are the best path to peace, Palestinians say they may eventually resort to international bodies to force Israel to make concessions.

Palestine
Palestine is a member of a League of Arab States.

Note: Morocco is a member of a League of Arab States.
League of Arab States is a member of the United Arab Emirates.
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the United Arab Emirates.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Valerie B. Jarrett is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Saban Center for Middle East Policy is a policy center for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Kenneth M. Pollack is a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, and was a senior fellow, Middle East policy for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Martin S. Indyk is a founding director fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, a Middle East peace envoy for the U.S. Department of State, and was a VP & director of the Foreign Policy Program for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Haim Saban is a benefactor for the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a friend of Shimon Peres.
Shimon Peres is a friend of Haim Saban, and the president of Israel.
Thomas R. Pickering was the U.S. ambassador for Israel, the under secretary for the U.S. Department of State, and is a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Cameron F. Kerry is a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and John F. Kerry’s brother.
Teresa Heinz Kerry is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to John F. Kerry.
John F. Kerry is Cameron F. Kerry’s brother, married to Teresa Heinz Kerry, and the secretary at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration.
Barack Obama is the president of the Barack Obama administration, and was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Sidley Austin LLP is the lobby firm for Israel.
R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Saban Center for Middle East Policy is a policy center for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Haim Saban is a benefactor for the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a friend of Shimon Peres.
Shimon Peres is a friend of Haim Saban, and the president of Israel.




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