The newly announced talks between Israel and the Palestinians will be conducted “with integrity and honesty,” and discreetly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday morning.
“It won’t be easy,” Netanyahu warned, “but we’re going into the negotiations with integrity and honesty.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a weekly cabinet meeting, June 2013 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/Pool/Flash90)
“It won’t be easy,” Netanyahu warned, “but we’re going into the negotiations with integrity and honesty.”
He added that he hoped “the process will be responsible, serious and to the point — and in its initial stages, also discreet.”
Netanyahu’s comments echoed those of US Secretary of State John Kerry, who promised discretion while announcing new talks on Friday. A number of leaks have already added some confusion, with Palestinian officials claiming Kerry promised them in writing that the talks would be conducted based on the 1967 lines, which Israel has denied.
And on Saturday, Minister Yuval Steinitz broke rank and said Israel had agreed to release a large number of veteran Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the talks. He said many of the prisoners were being held for “serious” crimes.
Characterizing the resumption of talks, which have been on hold since 2010, as a strategic interest, Netanyahu said any peace deal would have to approved by national referendum.
“I don’t think these decisions can be made, if there is a deal, by one government or another, but need to be brought as a national decision,” he said.
He added that his main guiding principles will be to maintain a Jewish majority in Israel and to avoid a future Palestinian state becoming an Iranian-backed “terror state.”
Many top officials in Jerusalem have reacted with optimism to the resumption of talks after the hiatus.
On Saturday night, President Shimon Peres called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to offer his good wishes for the Ramadan holiday. Peres praised Abbas for the “courageous and historic decision” to return to the negotiating table.
“There is no alternative to peace, not for us and not for you,” Peres said, according to the President’s Residence. “Don’t listen to the skeptics; you’ve done the right thing. We want to see the two peoples taking the right path.”
Peres also praised Netanyahu, who “understands this is a historic calling,” and Kerry. “The Americans fulfilled an important and central role in our return to the negotiations. Kerry’s work was very professional. He is a wise man, honest and serious in his intentions,” Peres said.
Abbas told Peres it was time “to continue the peace process we began so many years ago, and to complete it.”
“There is hope,” Abbas told Peres. “We’ll continue to build the future, and I hope we’ll arrive at a good end. I hope we’ll see progress and that we’ll gain an independent state that enjoys neighborly relations and lives in peace alongside Israel.”
Peres has urged Abbas to return to peace talks in recent months. The Sunday Times reported that the two met in secret in May in Amman, Jordan, where Peres reportedly tried to convince Abbas that Jewish settlers could live in a future Palestinian state if they agreed to accept its sovereignty.
Israeli sources say the talks are set to last from 9 to 12 months. Israel will be represented by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Netanyahu envoy Yitzhak Molcho and the Palestinians by veteran negotiator Saeb Erekat. Kerry said Friday he expected the talks to resume in Washington next week, but Israeli officials said logistics might require a further week of preparation.
The Associated Press and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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