MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoy presents an Israeli response to a letter from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as the two sides look for a way to restart peace talks

Record ID: 401215

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoy presents an Israeli response to a letter from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as the two sides look for a way to restart peace talks
  • Date: 13th May 2012
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (MAY 12, 2012) (REUTERS) WIDE OF ISRAELI PRIME MINISTERS SPOKESPERSON MARK REGEV CLOSE OF REGEV (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTERS SPOKESPERSON MARK REGEV, SAYING: "Prime minister Netanyahu's special peace envoy met with the Palestinian president Abbas. He handed him a special letter from my prime minister. We hope honestly this exchange of letters
  • Embargoed: 28th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem, Gaza, West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1GMRV6HTZH1YKXQ08YNZL0TFI
  • Story Text: An emissary of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday (May 12) presented an Israeli response to a letter from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as the sides look for a way to restart peace talks.
    Last month a Palestinian delegation handed Netanyahu a letter setting out their grievances, but their prime minister, Salam Fayyad, refused to join them for what would have been the highest-level meeting since 2010 when peace talks stalled.
    On Saturday, Netanyahu's aide Isaac Molho met Abbas in Ramallah, the Western-backed Palestinian Authority's seat of government in the West Bank, a joint statement by the parties said, although the letter's details were not disclosed.
    "We hope honestly this exchange of letters between the two sides can hope push the peace process forward," Israeli Prime Minister's spokesperson Mark Regev said.
    Netanyahu had promised a written reply within two weeks but took almost double that time before it was delivered.
    Abbas's letter demanded a halt to Israeli settlement construction on West Bank land captured in the 1967 Middle East war and deplored Israel's lack of commitment to the peace process, officials said.
    Netanyahu's stated position for Israel to renew talks has been a demand for the Palestinians to recognise Israel's security needs and that it should be the nation state of the Jewish people.
    He has also called on Abbas to return to talks unconditionally saying he would find Israel prepared for painful concessions, with not all settlements remaining inside Israeli-controlled borders.
    The Palestine Liberation Organisation that Abbas heads said the body's executive committee would convene on Sunday to discuss the contents of the letter and other matters.
    In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum criticized the meeting.
    "There are main issues for the Palestinian people, such as the prisoners case. What is required is to disgrace the occupation. We have to get a Palestinian, Islamic and Arab agreement to support the (prisoners) rights in the Zionist jails. It is obvious that this is waste of time between Netanyahu and Abu Mazen (Abbas) which the Palestinian people and prisoners will not benefit from," Barhoum added.
    U.S.-sponsored peace talks froze in late 2010 after Netanyahu rejected Palestinian demands that he extend a partial settlement construction freeze he had imposed, at Washington's behest, to persuade the Palestinians to take part in talks.
    About 500,000 Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in the 1967 war. Palestinians want the territory for an independent state along with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
    The settlements are considered illegal by the International Court of Justice, the highest U.N. legal body for disputes.
    Israel cites historical and Biblical links to the West Bank and says the status of settlements should be decided in peace negotiations.
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