Washington - President Barack Obama intends to renew his efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks during the remainder of his term in office, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing senior US officials.
The plans for a new peace push, reported as US Vice President Joe Biden was set to visit Israel on Tuesday, could possibly include a UN Security Council resolution that would provide a framework for a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, according to the report.
The resolution would call on both Israel and the Palestinians to make concessions toward reaching a deal, the WSJ cited the officials as saying. Israel has opposed such external interference in negotiations and the US has used its veto power in the Security Council to shoot down such resolutions in the past.
The officials said that Obama has not decided on the timing or the exact form of the peace initiative, but it would likely be later this year, as Obama is slated to leave office in January 2017.
Other initiatives being considered in addition to the UN Security Council resolution are a presidential speech or a Quartet statement on the issue. The officials said that Obama wishes to leave the state of Israeli-Palestinian relations in a more positive trajectory before his successor takes office.
One scenario being considered, according to the Journal, would see Israel implementing a settlement construction freeze and recognizing east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital in exchange for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and an end of their claims for a right of return. This scenario would include an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines with agreed upon land swaps.
The report comes a day after Israel’s ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer informed the White House that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was likely to cancel his planned visit to Washington next week, responding to accusations from the Obama administration that it was caught off guard by news of his change in plans.
Earlier on Monday, White House officials said Obama had already penciled in a meeting with Netanyahu on March 18. They expressed disappointment in his decision to cancel the meeting, and referred The Jerusalem Post to the government of Israel for an explanation of the schedule change.
“Last Friday, during a meeting at the White House, Ambassador Dermer expressed the prime minister’s appreciation for the president’s willingness to meet the PM if he came to Washington to attend AIPAC’s Policy Conference,” the prime minister’s office said on Monday night. “However, the ambassador also informed the White House that there is a good chance that the prime minister would not be coming to Washington and that a final decision would be taken on Monday after he had met with the prime minister.”
Dermer also informed a senior AIPAC official last week that Netanyahu’s trip was unlikely, the statement reads.
“On Monday, news reports suggested that [Netanyahu] would not be traveling to Washington and erroneously stated that the President was unwilling to meet with [him],” it continued. “The [prime minister’s office] immediately corrected the erroneous news reports and officially informed the administration that the PM would not be coming to Washington.”
Netanyahu looks forward to meeting with US Vice President Joe Biden, who is currently traveling the region, the statement added.
While Netanyahu “appreciated Obama’s willingness to meet him”, he decided “not to go to Washington at this time, at the height of the primary election campaigns in the United States.”
On Monday, the White House said it was surprised to learn from the media that Netanyahu had turned down an invitation to meet with Obama on March 18th. It had issued the invitation at Israel’s request.
