Mideast summit unlikely to relaunch peace talks

By KARIN LAUB and AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writers



NEW YORK – The Israeli and Palestinian leaders shook hands at the start of their first face-to-face meeting Tuesday, hosted by President Barack Obama, but the small gesture was unlikely to translate into a quick resumption of peace talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas remain far apart on key issues, including Israeli settlement expansion and the agenda of future talks.

Obama said at the start of the trilateral talks that the sides have made some progress, but have much further to go. He told both leaders it's time to find a way to break the deadlock. "There is a powerful sense of urgency," he said.

Obama's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, is to return to the Middle East for another round of mediation next week, and Israeli and Palestinian envoys are to come to Washington. Obama said he expects a progress report in mid-October.

The leaders went into the meeting with entrenched positions, and it was not clear whether the deadlock can be broken.

Abbas has said he won't renew negotiations without an Israeli settlement freeze, as sought by the U.S. and mandated by a U.S.-backed peace plan. Netanyahu insists there's no way he will halt construction in Israeli enclaves on land the Palestinians want for their state.

An Abbas aide, Yasser Abed Raddo, said that in the trilateral meeting Abbas restated his demand for a complete Israeli settlement freeze. Netanyahu, in turn, demanded that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Abed Raddo said. Abbas responded by saying that both sides should keep their commitments. The Palestinians argue that under previous understandings they are not required to do that.

Beyond the dispute over settlements, the two leaders are deadlocked on a more fundamental issue — the agenda of future peace talks.

The Palestinians want negotiations to resume on the same terms as last year's round between Abbas and Netanyahu's more pragmatic predecessor, Ehud Olmert. In those talks, which ended in late 2008, Israel agreed to discuss all so-called core issues, including the partition of Jerusalem. Netanyahu, a hardliner who came to power in March, insists Jerusalem is not up for discussion.

The wide gaps between Abbas and Netanyahu became only more apparent in last week's mediation mission by Mitchell, who held six meetings over four days with the two leaders.

Even though Mitchell returned to Washington empty-handed, Obama summoned Abbas and Netanyahu for a trilateral meeting Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Obama first met separately with Netanyahu and Abbas, before hosting trilateral talks. Abbas and Netanyahu shook hands at the start.

In his meeting with Obama, Netanyahu said he wishes to cooperate with the U.S. in its effort to resume peace talks, an Israeli official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity, in line with Israeli briefing regulations.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, at briefing after the trilateral meeting, said talks could begin as early as within weeks. Netanyahu called for a swift resumption of talks without preconditions.

In agreeing to meet with Netanyahu, Abbas opened himself to criticism from hardliners at home, particularly his Islamic militant Hamas rivals.

Hamas leaders have derided Abbas' efforts to negotiate a peace deal, promptly alleged he had buckled under American pressure.

"The meeting between Obama, Abbas and Netanyahu harms Palestinian interests," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, speaking in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Israeli officials didn't make it any easier for Abbas. Netanyahu's media adviser, Nir Hefetz, told Israel Army Radio on Monday that Netanyahu considers the settlers his brothers.

"You have never heard the prime minister say that he will freeze settlements. The opposite is true," Hefetz said.

Abbas' aides emphasized before Tuesday's talks that in meeting with Netanyahu, the Palestinian leader is not diluting his positions on resuming negotations.

"This is not a meeting on declaring a resumption of peace talks. We will not see this," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. He said Obama was expected to make a statement at the summit, encouraging the parties to persevere.

With a relaunch of peace talks under the old format seen as difficult, alternatives have been floated.

Israeli President Shimon Peres reportedly proposed that talks resume with a limited agenda, and focus on issues where some progress has already been made, such as the future borders between Israel and a Palestinian state.

In last year's negotiations, the two sides agreed on the idea of a land swap — Israel would compensate the Palestinians with some of its territory for any land it wants to annex in the West Bank — but disagreed on the amount to be exchanged.

Last month, Palestinian President Salam Fayyad presented a plan to build the institutions of a Palestinian state within two years, independent of what happens in the peace talks. Fayyad has argued that with peace efforts on hold, the Palestinians must move forward on their own.

Donor countries have funneled huge sums to the Palestinians in recent years, including nearly $3 billion for 2008 and 2009, to prop up Fayyad's government, revive the battered economy and fund development projects.

Top donor representatives were meeting in New York on Tuesday to review the aid program.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have urged Israel to do more to relax restrictions on Palestinian trade and movement, in order to sustain this year's modest growth in the West Bank. The mild upturn of the battered Palestinian economy was sparked by the removal of some Israeli roadblocks in the West Bank, along with continued foreign aid and growing investor confidence, economists said.

However, Israel continues to enforce a tight blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza and hampers Palestinian exports from the West Bank with cumbersome security controls. Sustained growth is only possible if trade restrictions are lifted, international economists said.