JERUSALEM (EJP)—Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have met US envoy Martin Indyk in a Jerusalem hotel to try to find a way to extend peace talks beyond the April 29 deadline.
The meeting had been put off by a day after the killing of an Israeli police officer by a Palestinian gunman near Hebron.
Chief Superintendent Baruch Mizrahi, a 47-year-old father of five from Modi’in, was killed while on his way to a Passover Seder (meal) near Hebron with his family. His pregnant wife, Hadas, was moderately injured and was transferred to Shaare Tzedek Medical Center in Jerusalem for treatment.
The Israeli and Palestinian teams are headed by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Earlier this week, a five-member delegation of members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, three from Labour, two from Meretz, comprising some of the Caucus to Solve the Israel-Arab Conflict, visited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Abbas reportedly told them of his preference to continue talks for a further nine months, as long as the fourth tranche of Palestinian prisoners– which includes 14 Israeli Arab prisoners –, all convicted for terrorism are released by Israel as part of the deal that led to the restart of the negotiations in July.
Israel’s Channel 2 reported that the head of the Shin Bet security service, Yoram Cohen,recommended that if the government goes through with the final release of Palestinian prisoners in the peace talks, 10 of them be sent to the Gaza Strip or abroad.
In the immediate aftermath of Monday’s killing of the Israeli police officer, the Israeli government blamed the Palestinian Authority’s “campaign of incitement” which it says motivated the murder.
On his Facebook page, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday accused the PA of “financing the murder of Jews.”
The attack re-ignited calls from within Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party to take a tougher approach to peace talks with the Palestinians. Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon told Israel Radio on Wednesday that Netanyahu should order Israeli negotiators not to meet with their Palestinian counterparts until the Palestinian Authority officially issues a condemnation of the killing.
Netanyahu declared, “The Palestinian Authority continues to constantly broadcast, in its official media, programs that incite against the existence of the State of Israel.”
Blasting the PA for failing to condemn the “abominable and reprehensible act” Netanyahu added that, “this incitement was translated into the murder of a father who was travelling with his family to celebrate the first night of Passover.”
The Government of Israel sees Palestinian incitement against Israel – as expressed in statements by public figures, in the media and official school textbooks – as a major obstacle in the peace process. Israel accuses the PA of glorifying terrorism, rejecting Israel’s legitimacy, and opposing peaceful normalisation, thereby demonstrating the lack of Palestinian commitment towards lasting peace.
In addition to glorifying violence, Israeli officials have pointed out that the PA actually pays generous salaries to all Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails, a situation in which the graver one’s offence and the longer one’s sentence, the higher the salary.
An academic study funded by the US State Department and published in 2013 reviewed Israeli and Palestinian text books. Whilst the PA claimed that this report exonerates them, in fact it found that in 84 per cent of cases, PA text books characterise Israelis or Jews in a negative or very negative way. This compared to 49 per cent negative or very negative characterisations of Palestinians in Israeli state text books.