Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians will likely require more time than previously anticipated, US officials acknowledged to The Jerusalem Post on Monday, as a nine-month deadline for peace talks set last July by US Secretary of State John Kerry is on the verge of expiring.
Kerry and his team have suggested publishing a framework for negotiations going forward that the parties would collectively roll out before the April 29 deadline.
But the Americans now view the hard date they originally set out to be "artificial," and suggest that even the framework may need more time, given some important gaps that still remain.
One of those gaps is Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' refusal to recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland, a precondition for a two-state solution set by Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. Abbas told The New York Times over the weekend that he would refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
"This is out of the question," he said, when asked about the issue.
Netanyahu took note of this response in the Likud faction meeting in the Knesset on Monday, saying that Abbas' negative response came even though "he knows that there will not be an agreement without recognition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people." The Prime Minister dismissed as "absurd" the notion Israel will sign an agreement recognizing a nation-state for the Palestinian people, without a mutual recognition by the Palestinians of Israel as the nation-state of the Jews.
"Now let's see if those same elements in the international community who until now have placed pressure only on Israel, will make clear to the Palestinians what exactly the ramifications will be for the them if there will not be an agreement," he said. "Without the Palestinians understanding that they will pay a price for a lack of continuation of the talks , they will prefer not to continue the talks," he said.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday that the nine-month timeframe remains unchanged, despite the fact that a framework agreement has not yet formed.
"That's certainly our hope," Psaki said, on whether the parties would achieve a framework within the next two months. "It's only February 4 now, so we have a bit of time between now and the end of April."
Netanyahu did not discuss another element of the Times interview with Abbas, namely the Palestinian leader's suggestion that an American-led NATO force patrol the future Palestinian state indefinitely, and that the IDF withdraw after a five year transition period. Abbas said the NATO force could be stationed throughout the future state, both on its eastern and western borders, at border crossings, and in Jerusalem.
While Netanyahu did not address the idea, one government official said that over the last 20 years Israel has had only negative experience with international forces, including an expanded UNIFIL force in Lebanon after the Second Lebanon War that has not prevented the massive re-arming of Hezbollah, and the UN forces in the Golan and the EU force at the Gaza border crossings who fold up as soon as things get dangerous.
The official said Israel has never asked, and never wants to ask, American troops to defend it. He also pointed out that even US troops withdrew from Lebanon in the 1980s following attacks there. Moreover, he said, such an American-led force in the region would be a target for various anti-American and jihadist elements.
The official also rejected the idea that there would need to be a fixed deadline for an IDF withdrawal, saying that this would have to depend on "performance" and the situation on the ground.
Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett did address the NATO issue during his faction meeting in the Knesset, saying that Israel's history shows that when things are calm, the international forces remain in place, but "the moment they are needed, they run away." Bennett said he preferred "old style security, only the IDF will guard our kids." Netanyahu also endeavored to put an end to the tension with Kerry over his mentioning "talk of boycotts" recently when discussing possible scenarios if the talks break down.
Netanyahu told the Likud MKs, a number of whom lashed out at Kerry for his comments, that the secretary of state "once again stated that he opposes boycotts against Israel." "This is an important clarification," he said. "It maintains the traditional American policy against the Arab boycott of Israel, in which the US both opposed and acted against such boycotts. We trust the United States will continue to actively oppose any boycotts against Israel."
Netanyahu said that while there may be periods of misunderstandings and disagreements between Israel and the US, "the best way to clarify misunderstandings or express differences of opinion is by substantively discussing the issues and not by engaging in personal attacks." Hamas, meanwhile, announced on Tuesday that it would never accept the two-state solution or give up "one inch of the land of Palestine."
Hamas's announcement came in response to recent statements attributed to Abbas to the effect that the Islamist movement had "authorized" him to agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines.
Hamas said that it never gave Abbas or anyone else a mandate to agree to the two-state solution.
Hamas said that in 2006 all Palestinian factions agreed to the establishment of Palestinian state on the pre-1967 lines and the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes inside Israel "without recognizing the Zionist entity or its legitimacy on the land of Palestine."
Hamas added that, "resistance in all shapes, first and foremost armed struggle, will remain the only effective way to achieve the goals of the Palestinian people and liberate their land."
Hamas also reiterated its call to Abbas to immediately halt the negotiations with Israel, as well as security coordination with the IDF in the West Bank. Hamas also urged Abbas to release its prisoners from PA jails in the West Bank.