The Palestinian Authority either accepted George Mitchell's proposal for "proximity talks," or is close to accepting, according to Israeli and Arab news outlets.
Ha'aretz reports today that Mahmoud Abbas "agreed in principle" to the talks, according to unnamed Palestinian sources. The talks will reportedly resume later this month, with Mitchell ferrying messages between negotiating teams in separate rooms.
Still unresolved: What both sides will talk about, where the talks will be held -- Jerusalem or Washington -- and who will be involved. These would be the first Israeli-Palestinian talks in more than a year -- since Operation Cast Lead -- but also the first indirect talks (عربي) since the Oslo Accords in autumn 1993.
Al-Arabiya has a more cautious report: Abbas is supposedly "weighing indirect talks," and his foreign minister, Riyad al-Malki, says those talks will focus solely on defining borders. Fixed borders will (should?) lead to a cessation of new settlement activity, which would allow Abbas to resume direct talks without backing down from his position on settlements.
Malki wants those talks to last no longer than four months, according to Al-Arabiya, which means Israel and Palestine would have to define their borders by Memorial Day. That seems... ambitious.
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Categories: Diplomacy, Israel, Israel & Palestine, Palestine, Politics, Regional News
Tags: George Mitchell, Mahmoud Abbas, Oslo Accords, proximity talks, Riyad al-Malki, settlement freeze
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