Secretary Clinton briefs reporters on the Middle East Peace Process. She is joined by Special Envoy for Middle East Peace Talks Senator George Mitchell. (Photo: State Department/Michael Gross)
President Barack Obama will welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House Wednesday night for individual talks and a joint dinner before the start of direct talks between the two leaders on Thursday. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will host the negotiations, which she says the U.S. believes can lead to a peace agreement within a year.
The talks rest on a shaky basis. Israel’s partial settlement freeze in the West Bank is set to expire on September 26, and Abbas insists that he will abandon the negotiations if the freeze is not extended. Netanyahu, meanwhile, will not make any commitment to extending the freeze.
Abbas faces intense political pressure not to make concessions to Israel, and he is in a vulnerable position. His term as president is expired, and any agreements he makes will not be binding on Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas.
Hamas is reported to be planning “large-scale terrorist attacks” to disrupt the peace talks, according to Israeli and Palestinian Authority intelligence sources cited by DEBKAfile. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal delivered a harsh speech last week condemning the talks and threatening not only Israel, but also Abbas, as well as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah if they refused to boycott the negotiations.
Everyone involved, except for the Obama administration, has very low expectations for the talks, writes Shmuel Rosner in Slate:
The Americans say the time is right. The time may be right for the Obama administration, though it’s not clear why, but it is hardly right for the parties involved. Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, think Iran is a more urgent priority. They believe the Palestinian problem can wait a little longer, and they see no Palestinian leaders they can make deals with. The Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas, were dragged to these talks kicking and screaming, and they don’t seem to intend to give an inch. They think Netanyahu doesn’t really mean business, and they have a hard time dealing with criticism from Hamas, Syria, and other regional belligerents. “There’s clearly a trust deficit that we’re going to have to find a way to overcome,” presidential adviser and longtime special envoy Dennis Ross explained. The two leaders mistrust each other, but they also find it difficult to trust the American mediator, and the proposed pathway to peace, and the timing, and the achievability of the goals. They are the true masters of low expectations.
Nevertheless, the Obama administration remains hopeful for the outcome of the talks. The U.S. will present an outline at the talks aiming at an agreement within a year and implementation within ten years.
