RAMALLAH: US envoy George Mitchell assured the Palestinians yesterday of Washington’s commitment to a state of their own, calling its establishment the only viable solution to their conflict with Israel.
Mitchell, speaking after talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, urged both sides to meet their obligations under the 2003 road map that commits Israel to halting settlement expansion.
US President Barack Obama had made it clear “the only viable resolution to this conflict is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states,” Mitchell said.
His comments highlighted a rare rift in US-Israeli relations. Netanyahu has not publicly endorsed Palestinian statehood and has said construction will continue in existing settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“As President Obama said last week, America will not turn...(its) back on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity and a state of their own,” Mitchell said, referring to Obama’s address to the Muslim world.
Reiterating remarks he made in talks with Israeli leaders on Tuesday, Mitchell said that Washington was seeking “prompt resumption and early conclusion” of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. “We are now engaged in serious discussions with Israelis, Palestinians and other regional partners to support this effort,” he added, before continuing the latest leg of his mission on a tour taking him to Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.
Speaking later after meeting Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni, Mitchell said Washington sought “a comprehensive regional peace which not only involves Israel and the Palestinians, but Syrians, the Lebanese and all the surrounding countries.”
Abbas, after his talks with Mitchell, made no comment to reporters. The Palestinian leader has said talks with Israel will be useless unless Netanyahu accepts a two-state solution and freezes settlements. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a statement the United States had “made clear its intention to reinvigorate Middle East peace talks, as well as its expectation that both parties implement their obligations under the road map.”
He said Israel’s failure to fulfill its obligations under existing agreements had undermined the credibility of the peace process.
Obama’s emphasis on meeting obligations was “an important litmus test of fairness and balance,” Erekat said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a conservative government that could collapse if he halts settlement construction, is scheduled to set out his position in a speech on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak yesterday urged Netanyahu to accept the principle of a Palestinian state.
“The current government was formed with the commitment to respect the deals reached by preceding governments,” Barak told public radio.
— With input from agencies
