Friday 15 May 2009

Netanyahu Turns Down Abdullah's Request to Endorse 2 States


Netanyahu Turns Down Abdullah's Request to Endorse 2 States

14/05/2009 Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held a meeting Thursday with Jordanian King Abdullah II and promised that he would pursue “peace negotiations” with the Palestinians, stopping short, however, of consenting to Abdullah's request that he come out in favor of a Palestinian state.

"I am aware of the need to promote negotiations with the Palestinians and intent to hold [separate] negotiations on diplomatic, security and economic [issues] negotiations, not one of which will come at the expense of the other," Netanyahu told his host, emphasizing, "I believe in changing reality on the ground."

Netanyahu added that he intended to bolster Palestinian security forces and promote economic projects while holding diplomatic talks. He also said that further involvement on the part of regional powers would broaden the circle of peace.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced that the two had agreed to be in contact after Netanyahu's meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington next week.

Abdullah pressed the Israeli prime minister to "immediately declare his commitment to a two-state solution, acceptance of the Arab peace initiative and to take necessary steps to move forward toward a solution," according to a royal palace statement.

The Arab peace initiative would offer Israel relations with the 23 Arab League members in exchange for its withdrawal from land it conquered in the 1967 Six Day War, a just solution for Palestinian refugees and the establishment of a Palestinian state with occupied east Jerusalem as its capital.

Abdullah said there "is consensus in the international community that there is no alternative to the two-state solution."

Netanyahu's brief visit comes ahead of his trip to the US on Saturday night and his meeting with US President Barack Obama on Monday.

Abdullah, who met Obama last month, was the first regional leader to meet the new US president.

During a visit to Berlin earlier this month, Abdullah said Israel, Syria, Lebanon and other Arab nations should sit down together to try to resolve the Middle East conflict under a new "combined approach," which he said was currently under discussion with the US.

Speaking to NBC's "Meet the Press" at the end of April, Jordan's king urged Obama to take a more forceful role in the “peace process” between Israelis and Palestinians, warning of a new Mideast war if there is no significant progress in the next 18 months.

Abdullah and other regional leaders are seeking to lay the groundwork for restarting Israel-Arab peace efforts. Netanyahu argues that the threat from Iran and its regional proxies - Hezbollah and Hamas- must be confronted first, before any progress can be made in peacemaking.

On Monday, he met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh and said Israel expected Egyptian "help in the struggle against extremists and terrorists who threaten peace." He also said he hoped for an immediate renewal of negotiations with the Palestinians. He sought help in building a coalition of Arab nations against Iran and said he hoped to renew “peace talks” with the Palestinians in the coming weeks. But he made no endorsement of Palestinian statehood.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose term ended on January 9, has said he would not meet with Netanyahu until he agrees to pursue Palestinian independence and freeze construction in occupied West Bank settlements. On Thursday, Abbas met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus to discuss Abdullah's new Mideast peace push and inter-Palestinian reconciliation. Abbas did not meet Hamas politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal or any other of the group's senior officials on his visit to the Syrian capital.

Abdullah traveled to Damascus earlier this week to promote his ideas to Assad.
Jordanian labor unions strongly denounced their government for its intention to allow Benjamin Netanyahu to visit Jordan, demanding it to declare Netanyahu persona non grata in the country.

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