RAMALLAH, West Bank, 31 March 2008 — Speaking at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that she expected both Israel and the Palestinians to take responsibility to create a better atmosphere to negotiate peace.
“There is a shared responsibility here for an atmosphere and a reality that can lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state based on security for Israel and Palestinians alike and economic viability for Palestinians,” Rice said. Under the plan that Rice announced, Israel will remove about 50 roadblocks, upgrade checkpoints to speed up the movement of Palestinians through the West Bank and give Palestinians more security responsibility in Jenin with an eye toward looking at “other areas in turn.”
The Israelis also pledged to increase the number of travel and work permits it gives Palestinians and to support economic projects in Palestinian towns.
In return, the Palestinians promised to improve policing of Jenin “to provide law and order, and work to prevent terror,” according to a statement released shortly before Rice spoke.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad consented to the steps at a joint meeting with Rice earlier yesterday. They agreed to pursue the measures with “special, immediate emphasis and work,” the statement said.
The Israeli measures also included a promise to allow the construction of 5,000 to 8,000 Palestinian homes near Ramallah, and to let Fayyad deploy up to 700 members of a Palestinian security force in Jenin. In addition to the roadblocks, Israel said it approved the transfer of 125 vehicles and 25 out of 50 armored personnel carriers for Abbas’ forces. Israel also agreed to increase the number of work permits for Palestinian laborers by 5,000 from its current number of 18,500.
An estimated 1,500 special permits will be given to Palestinian businessmen to travel more freely in the West Bank.
— With input from agencies
