When Israel sends representatives to Washington for the relaunch of long-dormant Middle East peace talks, the country’s delegation will be headed not by one but by two chief negotiators. That’s not the usual way that peace delegations do business. The Palestinian delegation, for example, will be led, as it was for many years earlier, by…
It was on a Friday evening, July 19, that Secretary of State John Kerry announced the upcoming resumption of Israel-Palestinian peace talks after a three-year freeze. There were no preconditions announced. Kerry had met Palestinian demands by giving his own promise — in writing, Palestinian officials said — that negotiations would be based on Israel’s…
Israelis and Palestinians played down on Monday the prospects of their envoys meeting in Washington any time soon, and the White House said getting the two sides to agree a peace deal remained an “enormous challenge”. Palestinians said negotiations could not begin unless it was clear in advance that they would be about a future…
To what can John Kerry’s efforts to restart the Israeli-Palestinian “peace process” be likened? Perhaps to those of a mechanic doggedly working on the engine of an old jalopy whose body is eaten by rust: Even if he gets the damned thing running, it won’t go anywhere. When something has gone nowhere for 20 years…
The Palestinians played down on Monday the significance of an imminent meeting in Washington of their top peace envoy with his Israeli counterpart, saying formal negotiation would not begin unless their opening terms were satisfied. The Palestinian position seemed to run counter to U.S. hopes that bringing together Saeb Erekat and Israel’s Tzipi Livni in…
When Secretary of State John Kerry announced on Friday that Israel and the Palestinians had tentatively agreed to resume peace talks after three years, he did so standing alone as dusk fell over the Jordanian capital. The image reflects both his achievement and his challenge: few people would have predicted success when he began his…
Well, surprise, surprise. After months of hearing from all the wise pundits from left to right that Secretary of State Kerry was beyond his depth in Israeli-Palestinian peace-making, that he was “naïve and ham-handed” (מגושם in the original), “dumb” and “clueless,” it turns out they all got it wrong. Of course, they’re still a long…
Israel has agreed to release Palestinian prisoners in order to resume peace talks, but will not yield to other demands the Palestinians say must be met before they return to the negotiating table. Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Saturday that Israel was prepared to release some “heavyweight” prisoners but could not accept Palestinian…
דער ייִדישער מוזיקער אָלעס וואַלינטשיק וויל ווײַזן דער וועלט די טיפֿע צונויפֿפֿלעכטונג פֿון דער ייִדישער און אוקראַיִישער קולטור.
100% of profits support our journalism
