US Will Set Timetable for Peace

Curt Here...

According to the article posted below the US administration will demand that Israel and the Palestinians address the issue of borders as a first step in the the Middle East peace process. This will be part of a new Middle East peace plan that the US will present to the UN General Assembly in September.

The US is planning on setting a timetable of a year and a half for the boarder negotiations to be completed with the hope that the rest of the major issues will be resolved later.

This is an interesting development and I am not really sure how this going to play out but, here are a couple of my observations. First off, I suspect that Israel will have a very hard time agreeing to give up any part of the city of Jerusalem. Prime Minister Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that all of Jerusalem will remain in control of the Nation of Israel. The Palestinians in past negotiations have demanded that part of Jerusalem should be the capital of a future State of Palestine. Why would this impasse suddenly change?

Second, I don't think it is a coincidence that the US is going to present this plan to the UN General Assembly. This of course takes us back to a previous blog entry (http://the70thweek.blogspot.com/2009/07/eus-solana-calls-for-un-to-recognise.html ) where Javier Solana stated that "After a fixed deadline, a U.N. Security Council resolution should proclaim the adoption of the two-state solution." This could be the fixed deadline that Javier Solana wanted (not sure yet about the year and half timeframe?). By the US using the UN as the place to present this plan, it later allows for the UN (by UN mandate) to force a two state solution on the nation of Israel after it refuses to comply with this "new" US peace proposal.

In my mind, Israel is getting set up.

Stay Tuned.

Curt

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PA officials: U.S. wants borders to top peace talks

BETHLEHEM - The U.S. administration will demand that Israel and the Palestinians address the issue of borders as the first step in the Middle East peace plan, senior Palestinian officials said Thursday.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday that Washington will present its new plan for a comprehensive Middle East peace soon.

The Americans will also outline proposals for an Israeli peace with Syria and Lebanon, the Palestinian officials said Thursday. The American plan will not specify step-by-step actions for an Israeli-Palestinian solution, but will address final status issues - borders, Jerusalem and refugees.

The Americans will set a timetable of about a year and a half for the negotiations and demand the sides first solve the border issue, under the belief that this will lead to solutions for other issues, such as the settlements and water. After that the sides will discuss the other fundamental issues - Jerusalem and the refugees.

The negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians probably will be conducted in the presence of American officials, the sources said. The American administration is likely to present its plan before or during the UN General Assembly set for September.

Saeb Erekat, head of the PLO's negotiating team, denied knowledge of the plan.

Erekat said that George Mitchell, the special White House envoy to the Middle East, said in recent meetings that the administration needs several more rounds of talks to draft a peace plan.

Mitchell is supposed to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again within the next two weeks.

During this period the Americans hope to reach understandings about the settlements, which would enable talks to resume.

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas is refusing to resume talks before Israel halts construction in the settlements. However, once Washington reaches understandings with Israel to suspend construction, Abbas would not be able to maintain his refusal, the Palestinian officials said.

For more click the link...http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1105907.html