The Washington Post
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT - Israeli and Palestinian leaders met at this Red Sea resort Tuesday for their second round of direct talks, tackling for the first time some of the toughest "core issues" dividing the parties as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton scrambled to keep the talks from collapsing over the issue of renewed Israeli settlement construction.
No resolution of that impasse appeared to have been found during two hours of discussions, both before and after lunch, between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. But a senior U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that the settlement issue was discussed and that both men appeared interested in finding a solution.
"It is very clear to me that both leaders are sincere, are serious to want to find a way to continue the discussions," the official said.
An Israeli official, also speaking anonymously, said: "We want the process to work, and the goal is to keep the process going. Between zero and the tens of thousands of housing units that are in the pipeline, there are a variety of options."
Netanyahu and Abbas were scheduled to continue the talks in Jerusalem on Wednesday, along with Clinton and George J. Mitchell, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East.
Mitchell, briefing reporters with only sparse details after the initial conversation of an hour and 40 minutes, side-stepped a question on whether progress was being made on the settlement dispute. He said only that "we continue our efforts to make progress, and we believe we are moving in the right direction, overall."
Mitchell emphasized that for the first time in these talks, Netanyahu and Abbas have begun to talk about the core issues dividing them, such as borders, security, the status of Jerusalem and the right of Palestinians who had fled during the 1948 war to return to their homes.
"I am not going to attempt to identify each one that was discussed, but several were - in a very serious, detailed and extensive discussion," Mitchell said.
Mitchell's remarks were significant because the former Senate majority leader, who is known to choose his words carefully, had said after the first set of talks in Washington that such core issues had not been broached in a substantive fashion. Palestinian officials have indicated they would like to discuss borders first, while Israeli officials appear more keen to discuss security.
The U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian meeting followed bilateral talks Clinton held earlier with the two leaders. But looming over this week's diplomacy is the 10-month moratorium on settlement construction that is due to expire by the end of the month.
Palestinian officials talked tough as they arrived at the negotiations, reiterating threats to walk out if construction does not continue to be curtailed. Netanyahu, under pressure from right-leaning members of his coalition, on Sunday rejected a total freeze but suggested some flexibility on the issue. He said Israel could not "freeze the lives" of residents but would also not begin a massive construction program.
Before she arrived here, Clinton told reporters traveling with her that although the United States wants Israel to extend the moratorium, there could be other agreements between the two sides that would improve the atmosphere for talks and permit them to continue. Palestinian officials, for instance, are seeking to begin the discussions by focusing on the potential borders of the two states, which would identify which settlements Israel might keep in a peace deal. Israeli officials want Palestinian recognition of Israel as a "Jewish homeland."
"There is no prospect for success in the absence of direct negotiations," Clinton said. "For me, this is a simple choice: no negotiations, no security, no state."
The administration had hoped that direct talks would have begun when the moratorium was announced, making it harder to let the ban lapse. Now U.S. officials are trying to keep the talks going past the initial phase, making the settlement issue less of a factor in whether the talks continue. Clinton said Monday that the "time is ripe" for the two sides to make a deal.
President Obama has set an ambitious goal of concluding the talks within a year - a tall order, given that a final agreement has eluded peacemakers for decades.
Mitchell reiterated the administration's desire to achieve a "comprehensive peace," involving not only Israel and the Palestinians, but also Israel and its other Arab neighbors. To that end, he plans to visit Syria and Lebanon later this week.
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