9 Months ME Talks: No Breakthrough
After nine months of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian authority, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas - or Abu Mazen - said Friday that both had been unable to agree on “even one issue.”
“I can’t say that even one issue has been agreed upon,” Mr Abbas told Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.
Despite the lack of any positive results, Abbas said negotiations would continue with whomever succeeds current Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
The Palestinian and Fatah leader Abbas told Haaretz he thought “very highly” of Olmert, adding: “We will negotiate with any prime minister elected in Israel and wish Olmert well.”
Although both sides said months ago that they were hopeful that a deal would be agreed upon at the end of 2008, Abbas now called this “improbable.”
“I doubt we will be able to seal an agreement by the end of 2008,” he said.
“The gap between the sides is very large.”
The main issues on which the two sides differ are the possible returning of Palestinian refugees, water resources, security, the borders of a Palestinian state, and the status of Jerusalem.
“We presented our ideas and demands regarding the six issues,” Abbas said, “but have not received any answer from the Israeli sides.”
The US-led talks follow the principles as thought up by former U.S. President Bill Clinton when he led Middle Eastern talks back in the 1990s: it’s all or nothing. Either the two sides agree on every issue, or no issue will be officially agreed upon.
Although that may sound unreasonable to some, this approach is considered necessary in this particular situation. It allows the two sides to do concessions on specific issues, without being held to them if other issues are not resolved. For instance, one side may be willing to give up some of its claims on one issue, as long as it gets what it wants on another, or at least has to give up less on that one.
It also makes it possible for the two sides to negotiate without journalists and other observers focusing completely on details. It gives them more room, and peace and quiet to resolve the conflict.
