The time for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to make "difficult decisions," has arrived US Secretary of State John Kerry said soon after arriving Thursday for his 10th round of shuttle diplomacy since March.
Kerry, in a statement delivered along side Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in his office, said that after five months of negotiations, everyone realizes this is a "tough road" and a long and complicated process.
But, he added, "this is not mission impossible." Kerry, who is expected to meet a number of times over the weekend with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, shed some light on the much-discussed "framework" that the United States is trying to push forward.
This framework, he said, would "provide the agreed guidelines for permanent status negotiations." This, he added, "will take compromise by both sides. But an agreed framework would be a significant breakthrough."
He said such a framework would address all the core issues – borders, security, refugees, Jerusalem, mutual recognition and an end to all claims – so the sides know "where they are going." He said his role was not to impose US ideas, but rather facilitate the parties in trying to bridge the gaps on those issues.
The time is soon arriving where leaders are going to have to make difficult decisions," he said. "We are close to that time, if not at it. I think we understand the circumstances in which we are working."
Kerry's upbeat comments contrasted with Netanyahu's own statement, where he said that continued Palestinian incitement and Abbas's failure to condemn terrorism raised questions about the intent of the other side.
"Palestinian government incitement is rampant, you see it in the state-controlled media, and the government controlled media, in schools, in textbooks, in, kindergartens. You see it in every part of Palestinian society," the premier said, adding that "Instead of preparing the Palestinians for peace, the Palestinian teachers are teaching how to hate Israel. This is not the way to achieve peace."
Abbas, Netanyahu said, must "lead his people away from terror and incitement, and toward reconciliation and peace." The prime minister said he and his government were prepared to make a "historic peace," but must also have a Palestinian partner equally committed.
Kerry addressed briefly Netanyahu's concerns, saying that the "possibilities of peace is always challenged by day to day contradictions, by day to day realities."
He praised Netanyahu for having the "courage" to go through with the recent release of Palestinian security prisoners, saying he knows how difficult that decision was. IN the next breath he also praised Abbas for staying engaged with Israel, even though he was facing domestic pressure to break away from the talks.
Kerry, who fought in the Vietnam War, said that his recent visit there showed him "the "power of reconciliation." The transformation of US-Vietnam relations is proof, he said, "that as painful as the past can be, through hard work and diplomacy history's adversaries can actually become partners, and history's challenges can become an opportunity for a new age."