Biden and Mitchell Kick-Start Peace Talks
Joe Biden with Shimon Peres
The vice president of the United States arrived in the Middle East this week to kick-start peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Both sides have agreed to indirect talks mediated by the US after discussions broke down in 2008.
Joe Biden said that the US had an “absolute, total, unvarnished commitment to Israel’s security” and called the talks “a moment of real opportunity”, as he met with Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday.
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“I think we are at a moment of real opportunity and I think that the interests of the Israeli and Palestinian people, if everybody stops and takes a deep breath, are actually more in line than they are opposite.”
During his visit Biden also met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visited Yad VaShem and the grave of Yitzhak Rabin.
The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has refused to resume direct talks until Israel permanently stops expanding settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
However, the Arab league last week approved indirect negotiations for a preliminary four-month period.
George Mitchell, US President Barack Obama’s Middle East envoy, is mediating the talks. Neither side is prepared at this stage to meet directly during the negotiations, but Mitchell has agreed to shuttle between the two sides. The meetings have been planned for Ramallah and Jerusalem or in separate rooms in an American facility.
On Wednesday Biden met with Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah.
The vice president had earlier in the day criticised Israel for approving new housing in East Jerusalem, saying that was “the kind of step that undermines the trust we need”.
Biden, during a joint press conference with Abbas, urged both the Israelis and the Palestinians not to do anything that could “inflame” tensions or “complicate the process”.
He reiterated that the US would play an active role in the negotiation process and added that both sides needed to take “historically bold” steps to achieve peace.
Abbas called on Israel to prove it was committed to the political process, saying “the time is right for peace based on two states – an Israeli state living in peace and security alongside a Palestinian state”.
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