Israel welcomes call from international Quartet to renew negotiations, urges PA to do the same

The Israeli enemy on Sunday welcomed a call from the international Quartet for peace talks to resume despite what it called to be some "concerns", an interpretation the Palestinians quickly rejected

"Israel welcomes the Quartet's call for direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions, as called for by both (US) President (Barack) Obama and Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu," a statement from the Israeli premier's office said. "While Israel has some concerns, it will raise them at the appropriate time," the statement read. "Israel calls on the Palestinian Authority to do the same and to enter into direct negotiations without delay," it added.

But the Palestinians quickly retorted that Israel could not say it had accepted the Quartet statement without announcing a halt to Israeli settlement construction and a willingness to use the lines that existed before the 1967 Six Day War as a basis for negotiations on future borders.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, speaking to AFP from Cairo, said the statement from Netanyahu's office was an exercise in deceiving the international community. "If he accepts the Quartet statement then he must announce a halt to settlement activity, including natural growth, and accept the principle of the 1967 borders because this is what was clearly demanded by the Quartet statement."

The plan, presented Friday at UN Headquarters in New York by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, calls for Israel and the Palestinian Authority to renew direct talks within a month, to present proposals on borders and security within three months, and to reach a final agreement by the end of 2012.

Meanwhile, PA President Mahmoud Abbas seems to continue his struggle for Palestine’s statehood bid through in the UN rather than renewing dialogue with Israel.

In this context, Abbas is set to visit UN Security Council member Colombia on October 11 to discuss his bid for UN member state status, President Juan Manuel Santos said Saturday. "The Palestinian leader had planned to come to Central America and he proposed a visit. We said he would be welcome and he will be here on October 11," Santos said in a statement.


Santos said the visit by Abbas would not help sway him to change his opposition to the Palestinian bid for full UN recognition, claiming a Palestinian state should only be recognized through a negotiated solution with Israel.

Colombia has said it would abstain in any Security Council vote. "Colombia supports the right of the Palestinians to have their state and Colombia hopes this will come as a result of an agreement between the parties, so they can truly live in peace," Santos said.