Fatah’s Central Committee rejected on Sunday a plan by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to open indirect peace talks, mediated by the U.S., between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The talks were to center on core issues in dispute.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has disassociated himself from remarks by Defense Minister Ehud Barak as if Jerusalem would be "shared."
The PA-based Maan News Agency reported that the Fatah committee met in Mahmoud Abbas’ office in Ramallah. Abbas is serving as chairman of the PA, though his term of office officially expired over a year ago. The committee decided unequivocally to reject Clinton’s indirect negotiations plan and to continue to adhere to its long-stated demands: a complete halt of construction of Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria, as well as an American commitment and guarantees for a PA state on all areas occupied by Jordan between 1948 and 1967 and with eastern Jerusalem as its capital.
Jamal Muheisen, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, told Maan that the committee placed an emphasis on the Arab position that talks should not be conducted so long as construction continues in Judea and Samaria.
The Fatah decision comes on the heel of attempts by Clinton late last week to begin indirect peace talks. Clinton hosted chief Israeli negotiator Yitzhak Molcho in Washington on Thursday, for a meeting aimed at getting “a perspective on the Israeli side of how to move forward.”
Segments from Clinton's Speech
The U.S. has been attempting to have the two sides return to the negotiating table since September, when Israel's self-imposed ten-month construction freeze ended. The U.S. then pushed Israel to implement a second construction freeze in Judea and Samaria, but both sides have admitted that this possibility has failed to materialize and is off the table.
Barak: Jerusalem to be Shared; Netanyahu Nixes Idea
Defense Minister Barak told a Washington conference on Friday that he supported a plan by which Jerusalem would serve as the capitals of both Israel and a future PA state. Speaking to an audience that included both Secretary Clinton and PA prime minister Salam Fayyad, Barak said, "Jerusalem will be discussed at the end with... western Jerusalem and the Jewish [areas} for us, the refugee-populated Arab neighbourhoods for them, and an agreed upon solution in the holy places," said Barak.
The AFP news agency reported that an unnamed official in Netanyahu's office said Barak's comments do not represent the government's position.