Netanyahu: ‘Perfectly open’ to meeting with Abbas

Kerry heading to region, looking to convene Netanyahu, Abbas summit

BY TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF October 14, 2015, 10:06 pm


In this July 29, 2013 file photo, Secretary of State John Kerry, left, sits across from Israeli and Palestinian negotiators at the State Department in Washington. (AP/Charles Dharapak, File)

US hoping to ease tensions amid escalating violence, said planning to tell Israel to curb settlements; Jerusalem indicates willingness for meet

US Secretary of State John Kerry is reportedly pushing to convene a summit in Jordan with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in a bid to calm violence wracking Israel and the Palestinian territories in recent weeks.

According to a Channel 10 report Wednesday, the Jordanians have apparently already agreed to host the gathering, in which Abbas and Netanyahu would each meet with the American diplomat separately. There was no indication of when the meeting would take place.

The White House and State Department said Wednesday that Kerry would head to the region “soon” but that details were not yet determined. Officials familiar with the planning said Kerry would like to meet Netanyahu and Abbas separately in the Jordanian capital of Amman. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the planning publicly.

The push by the American government came as violence between Israel and the Palestinians has spiked, with terrorist attacks, shootings and violent riots taking place daily in the past two weeks.

The Channel 10 report said that Washington was considering demanding a halt in settlement construction by Israel.

Sources close to Kerry claimed that he will tell Netanyahu that if he’s interested in renewing peace talks with the Palestinians — as he expressed in his UN General Assembly speech last month — that it would be a welcome move.

Peace talks broke down in March 2014 amid mutual recriminations by Israeli and Palestinian officials over failure to abide by commitments to the negotiations.

The Prime Minister’s Office wasn’t immediately available for comment. Sources in Jerusalem said they were unaware of the plan for the summit, but indicated a general willingness.

Earlier in the day, Netanyahu expressed willingness to return to talks with the Palestinians immediately.


State Department spokesman John Kirby could not confirm the timetable nor the venue of any talks — and played down the possibility of a revived peace process — but said Kerry hoped to talk to local leaders.



Asked about media reports that Kerry hopes to host talks in Jordan, Kirby said he had “nothing to report on the press reports you have seen with respect to that.”



On Tuesday, Kerry linked the ongoing violence to settlement construction during a talk in Boston.





Abbas said Wednesday he favors “peaceful, popular resistance” against Israeli occupation, amid a two-week wave of violence that has killed more than 30 people on both sides, a toll that includes several Palestinian attackers.

In a speech broadcast on official Palestinian television, his first since the outbreak of the violence, Abbas spoke of the Palestinian people’s “right to defend ourselves” and “pursue our national struggle.”

He accused Israel of “executing” a 13-year old who earlier this week stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli boy in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Zeev, and said the Palestinians “will not agree to Israel’s policy of occupation.” Israel Police on Wednesday released video footage showing the stabbing attack.

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Kerry Blames Terrorist Attacks on 'Settlements'

US Sec. of State hints his upcoming visit will mean more pressure on Israel, makes no mention of rampant Palestinian incitement.

By Ari Soffer | First Publish: 10/14/2015, 4:14 PM



US Secretary of State John Kerry is planning a trip to the Middle East to meet both Israeli and Palestinian Authority leaders, in what he is touting as an effort to end the current wave of deadly Arab terrorism sweeping the country.

But if an interview on Tuesday is anything to go by, Kerry's visit will mostly focus on pressuring Israel to make concessions. Speaking to Harvard Professor Graham Allison in Cambridge, Massachusetts, America's top diplomat summed up the past several weeks of escalating violence in the following terms:

"So here’s the deal. What’s happening is that unless we get going, a two-state solution could conceivably be stolen from everybody. And there’s been a massive increase in settlements over the course of the last years.



Kerry added that the Obama administration would be using its last year or so in government to push for a solution to the conflict - in what could foreshadow yet another push for massive Israeli concessions.

"We have another 16 months in this Administration, and I can assure you we’re going to stay engaged and continue to try to work through these issues, because there are options and there’s a better other side of the current conflict that we’re witnessing," he said.

No mention was made of the role played by violently anti-Semitic propaganda and other efforts to encourage violence by Palestinian groups spanning Hamas to the Palestinian Authority.

In a speech to the Knesset on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu rejected the notion that the current wave of Arab terrorism had anything to do with a lack of progress in talks with the PA, instead blaming extremists committed to Israel's destruction for encouraging the violence to achieve precisely that.



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Kerry echoes Netanyahu in call against incitement

By MICHAEL WILNER | 10/11/2015 00:04


US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York. (photo credit:STATE DEPARTMENT)

In separate calls to Netanyahu and Abbas, Kerry expresses "deep concern" with escalating tensions and asks what he can do to help.

Washington -- Expressing "deep concern" after a week of bloodshed for Israelis and Palestinians, US Secretary of State John Kerry called the leaders of both peoples on Saturday, offering any support he could provide to restore calm.

But no specifics were outlined in a readout of those calls, as the tempo of disorganized attacks continued to increase over the weekend.

In his call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli premier reminded Kerry of the importance of condemning "wild incitement" to violence from Palestinian leaders, according to his office. Kerry echoed that message in a statement later in the afternoon.

"He reiterated the importance of strongly condemning violence and combating incitement, and taking affirmative steps to reduce tensions," the State Department said in a statement. "He again stressed the importance of upholding the status quo in word and deed at the Haram al Sharif/Temple Mount and of preventing inflammatory rhetoric and actions that will increase tensions."

Netanyahu denies claims he seeks to change the status quo on the holy site, where Jews are not allowed to formally pray.

Thirteen stabbings of Israelis by Palestinians have occurred in the past four days alone, and several rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel on Saturday night. Several clashes on the borders with Gaza and the West Bank have also led to Palestinian deaths at the hands of Israeli forces.

In his calls with both Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Kerry offered his support "for efforts to restore calm as soon as possible," the State Department said.

The stabbing spree has been characterized as terrorism by the US government.

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