Kerry says he hopes to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Kerry says he hopes to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 20:21 GMT

Source: reuters // Reuters


WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Senator John Kerry, nominated to be the next U.S. secretary of state, said on Thursday he hopes for a revival of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

The comment by the Massachusetts Democratic senator, whose Senate confirmation is regarded as a virtual certainty, suggests the United States could consider a new peace initiative despite the failure of President Barack Obama's first-term efforts.

U.S.-brokered peace talks broke down in 2010 amid mutual acrimony. Since then Israel has accelerated construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem - land the Palestinians want for a future state - and the Palestinians have taken steps to gain greater recognition at the United Nations and its agencies.

"My hope is ... my prayer is that perhaps this can be a moment where we can renew some kind of effort to get the parties into a discussion to have a different track than we have been on over the last couple of years," Kerry said at his confirmation hearing, noting it was unclear what government would emerge from Israel's Tuesday election.


Read more: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/kerry-says-he-hopes-to-revive-israeli-palestinian-talks

[riverbendviewgal]

1. I think he will be good at it

and may succeed since the new Israeli guy,Yair Lapid, knocked down the old RW guy, Benjamin Netanyahu, a notch....

He now has the clout to choose between leading the political opposition or becoming the key partner in a Netanyahu-led coalition. Or, the question has been raised, would Israeli President Shimon Peres decide to ask Lapid to form a government?


http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/23/world/meast/israel-elections-lapid/index.html

Good luck Senator and future Secretary of State Kerry.

[Scootaloo]

5. Except Lapid doesn't differ much from Netanyahu on the Palestine issue

He ran - and won - on domestic issues. He's pro-settlement just like Netanyahu, and will probably join a coalition with Likud; or bring Likud into a coalition, with a compromise on membership of religious parties rather than any position regarding Palestine.

January 22nd was just a Tuesday, as far as it mattered to Palestinians.

[geek tragedy]

2. One can infer that hopes are high but expectations are appropriately low. nt

[FreeBC]

3. It's hard to believe any progress is possible while Netanyahu is still in power.

Yes, I realize the recent election weakened Netanyahu's power, but as far as I can tell he's still running the show. Netanyahu and the people he represents don't want peace. And with Hamas still in power it doesn't look like the Palestinians want peace either.

[mazzarro]

4. Who is fooling who?

IMO - the statuesque is preferable to the powers that be - even in the Arab League. Palestinians have become the forgotten people - the next best thing the would come up in the UN is to find way to put them in reservations like Native Americans, or the Australian Aborigines and forget them!