Making his sixth trip to the region since taking office, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was due to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan on Tuesday as he tries to nudge the Palestinians and Israelis toward a resumption of peace talks that broke down nearly three years ago due to the Israel’s obstinate disinclination to stop developing new communities on the occupied Palestinian Land.
After Barack Obama’s visit to Middle East early March this year and his negotiations with the Israeli, Palestinian and Jordan leaders American diplomacy is persistent in searching ways to unblock the negotiation process and finding the solution acceptable for both parties.
After three days of intensive shuttle diplomacy between Jerusalem, Ramallah and the Jordanian capital, Amman, Kerry said some progress had been made but there was more work to be done. He was able, at official stage at least, to bring the positions of the Palestinian and Israeli governments together by using rather serious economic instruments and the influence of World Economic Forum.
John Kerry negotiated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime-Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his stay. Both parties have difficult decisions to make before starting direct negotiations, Kerry noted.
“I know that there is deep skepticism among diplomats and Middle East analysts that the Israelis and Palestinians will resume peace talks, but I’m most hopeful because of the positive steps that Israelis themselves and Palestinians are taking on the ground and the promise that those steps represent about the possibilities of the future. The path to resolution of this longstanding conflict in this critical corner of the world, that path is not about fate. It’s about choices, choices that people can make”.
The United Kingdom Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State William Hague supported his American colleague and warned of the danger that the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations fail once again, and this was the last attempt of reconciliation and there was no “Plan B”.
John Kerry in his passionate speech at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa, named three components necessary for viable State of Palestine. After Kerry, these components (namely a qualified government, security and economic opportunities) make necessary conditions for a successful forming of Palestinian statesmanship.
Serious economic part was the key element of the plan by the US Secretary of State. This means far-reaching economic basement is underpinned for unfreezing direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine. During his speech in Jordan on may 26, John Kerry announced plans for a $4 billion economic programme he designed together with Anthony Blair to kickstart the Palestinian economy and provide the basis for sustainable peace. The plan, put together by a group of international regional experts, would increase Palestine’s GDP by 50% and cut unemployment from 21% of the workforce to 8% in just three years. Kerry said that US$ 4 billion dollars can make an enormous difference in a relatively small area with a population of just 4 million. “The intention is not just to make it transformative, but to make it different from anything ever seen before,” he added.
Kerry called for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime-Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to support the plan which will result in more independence for Palestinians and a more favourable investment climate for Palestine. “As soon as people find their honor in a worthy workplace, the nation gains its honour for the growing economy and will have their feet on the ground, which helps them build their future”, Mr. Kerry said.
Shimon Peres, President of Israel, said that this plan complements the US efforts to renew the bilateral negotiations process within the Palestine-Israeli conflict. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated that critical moment had come for the Palestinians, and “the new generation starts loosing trust in bilateral decision as they have no real hope for the future”.
During the work of World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa in Jordan about 200 businessmen of Israeli and Palestinian origin supported the Overcoming the deadlock initiative, namely the programme for joint actions of businessmen from both countries to find a fair balance in Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Kerry, who ended a round of shuttle diplomacy between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said at the time that "with a little more work, the start of final status negotiations could be within reach". Mahmoud Abbas, the President of Palestine, said in his his speech during the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa in the city of Ash-Shuna (Jordan), that peace between the Palestinians and the Israeli “is still possible”.
Abbas welcomed the US Secretary of State efforts for renewing Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. At the same time, he specified the conditions necessary for “ensuring peace and safety for both parties”.
Abbas has said that, for new talks to be held, Netanyahu must freeze and evacuate the settlements and recognize the West Bank's boundary before its capture by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war as the basis for the future Palestine's border. He also demanded to free Palestinian political prisoners.
Israel says it is willing to negotiate without preconditions, but has so far refused to meet Palestinian demands.
We need to note that both Israeli and Palestinian administrations were cool to the idea of the John Kerry economic plan for Palestine. The Palestinians took it as the new version of the Benjamin Netanyahu “economical peace agreement” which, from the Palestinians’ point of view, is to make them forget about the political regulation by promising indefinite wealth growth prospects.
Senior economic adviser to President Abbas Mohammad Mustafa said that “the political element should go side by side with the economic element because part of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the borders of 1967, with its capital in the West Jerusalem. There must be an independent economy and a salvation for refugees”.
The deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau Mousa Abu Marzouk’s comment on the situation was even more brief: “This so-called John Kerry economical plan is all about buying time for Zionists”, he said on his Facebook page.
Therefore the fact is once again proven: the highly-publicized economic initiative is not a replacement for the political process within the terms of all the Resolutions and Agreements ratified earlier by the Un, the Arab league and Arab Peace Initiative. This, of course, is important, but only as a segment serving to promote political regulation of the problem which is causing constant pain in Arab and Islamic world for almost 7 decades by now.
Dr.Vyacheslav Shved, leading researcher of the Institute for World Economy and International Relations of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Ukraine,
Director of the Dept. of Near East Affairs at Ukraine's National Institute for Strategic Studies,
Vice-President of the “Ukrainian Centre For Islamic Studies” NGO
