American diplomats are in the Middle East on an unannounced visit in an attempt to restart the talks between Israeli and the terror groups that make up the Palestinian Authority. According to the Associated Press, the visit by Dennis Ross and David Hale was confirmed by Israeli and PA officials on Wednesday. It is their first to the region since U.S. President Barack Obama’s special Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, resigned in May.
The envoys are looking for a formula for talks that would convince the PA to drop its plan to unilaterally declare a state and have the United Nations recognize it in September. They have met Israeli’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and PA “prime minister” Salam Fayyad.
“There are talks going on to see if there’s a formula that will allow for the restarting of the talks that would cause the Palestinians to abandon their unilateral approach,” an Israeli official told AP, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The office of the Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, confirmed that he met with the American diplomats but did not release details. The diplomats also met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Wednesday.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is also due in the Middle East for talks with Israeli and PA officials, her office said Wednesday. The visit follows her previous trip to the region four months ago.
Ashton was in Jordan on Thursday and will meet Israeli and PA officials on Friday, according to AFP. She will then fly to Egypt Saturday, to discuss the situation in Libya.
Sunday she will be back in Israel, meeting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
"I look forward to meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders and encouraging them to seize the opportunity and engage in negotiations," Ashton said in a statement.
"With the momentous events going on in North Africa and following President Obama's speech last month, it is more urgent than ever that we kick start the Middle East peace process."
AFP reported that Ashton sent a letter June 10 calling upon members of the Middle East Quartet to back Obama's call for negotiations on the basis of 1949 borders.
The President of the EU Parliament said Tuesday that a unilateral move by the Palestinian Authority toward statehood could be “dangerous."
EU President, Jerzy Buzek, made the comments during a visit to Ramallah.
Israel and the PA have been involved in a "peace process" since 1993. Over 1200 Israeli civilians were murdered in the course of the years 2000-2005 alone, as a result of concessions by Israel in that process, which many Israelis are loath to call "peace."