JERUSALEM/FILE: Hotel guests staying at the iconic King David Hotel in Jerusalem voice mixed feelings at the prospect of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians

Record ID: 190040

  • Title: JERUSALEM/FILE: Hotel guests staying at the iconic King David Hotel in Jerusalem voice mixed feelings at the prospect of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians
  • Date: 13th August 2013
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (FILE - JAN, 2008) (REUTERS) WORKERS ROLLING CARPET IN PREPARATION FOR STAY OF FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING A PICTURE OF HOTEL BATHROBE PRINTED WITH WORDS " PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH" JERUSALEM (FILE - MARCH 18, 2013) (REUTERS) WOMAN WALKING ON HALLWAY OF HOTEL SIGNATURE ON FLOOR READING "BARACK OBAMA, 2008"
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7E4HDWADUATBPQ9QU1NBGMTGN
  • Story Text: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are due to convene on Wednesday (August 14) in Jerusalem for peace talks, the city at the heart of the decades-old conflict, after a three-year stand-off ended with the first round of talks in Washington last month.
    Negotiators will meet at no other than the King David Hotel - an iconic monument in the ancient city.
    The 89-year-old property, situated in west Jerusalem, overlooks the old walled city, a sacred site for both Muslims and Jews.
    Eric Gross, a regular guest at the hotel, says he hopes the peace talks would lead to an agreement that would end the decades-old conflict, but thinks this process, like all previous processes, is doomed to fail.
    "In order to make peace, you have to agree to coexist, whatever the end decision is: one-state, two-state, three-state - it doesn't make a difference. If you don't want to coexist, it can't work," Gross told Reuters Television on Tuesday (August 13).
    Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners in the early hours of Wednesday to keep U.S.-sponsored peacemaking on course for a second round of talks, but diplomacy remained dogged by Israeli plans for more Jewish homes on land the Palestinians claim for a future state.
    Follow-up meetings are expected every few weeks in venues including Jericho in the occupied West Bank in pursuit of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's goal of clinching an accord in nine months.
    Israel says it supports his vision but in the past few days has announced plans to increase its settlement of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which, along with the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians want as part of their state in any deal.
    "It could be a great moment if at the end, we succeed to get some kind of agreement or arrangement to restart the peace process. And this will depend on the two parts, I guess, to get to a compromise," said Eliahu Halfon, a French guest at the hotel.
    Few expect the latest negotiations to resolve issues that have defied solution for decades, such as borders, settlements, the status of Jerusalem and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
    Yet neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas want to be seen as putting the brakes on the U.S. peace drive.
    The King David Hotel is the most common venue to host state leaders visiting Israel. U.S. President Barack Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush all stayed there.
    It was also the target of an attack in 1946 when it was bombed by the militant right-wing Zionist organization, the Irgun. The hotel at the time housed the British administrative headquarters.
    At least 65 people were killed in the bombing.
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