Middle East peace talks are as far off as ever as the new US administration appears helpless to press Israel to end its colonial intransigence, writes Khaled Amayreh in occupied Jerusalem Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US Envoy George Mitchell held yet another indecisive meeting in London last week, further undermining hopes for a speedy resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Israeli sources suggested that Netanyahu was trying "somewhat successfully" to shift the focus of the talks with Washington from the pivotal settlement expansion issue to largely disingenuous calls for an "unconditional" resumption of talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA). Following their four-hour meeting at the Park Lane Hotel on 26 August, Netanyahu and Mitchell issued a joint statement saying that Israeli officials would meet Mitchell in Washington for further talks. The statement, worded in general terms, was devoid of any indication that the two sides were about to reach a breakthrough, especially on the settlement expansion issue. Prior to the talks, Netanyahu told reporters in London, and later in Berlin, that Israel and the US were making "headway" towards the resumption of peace talks. He added that Washington and Tel Aviv were "getting closer" to a "bridging formula" on settlement expansion activities in the West Bank, especially in occupied Jerusalem. Israel reportedly agreed -- tacitly -- to freeze settlement expansion in the West Bank for a period of six to nine months. However, Israeli officials are still adamant about keeping up settlement expansion in East Jerusalem. Earlier reports from Israel and Washington suggested that the Obama administration was being tempted to sidestep the "predicament" over the settlement crisis in favour of making a wider initiative dealing more comprehensively with the enduring conflict. Mitchell and other top American officials said the administration didn't have a new peace plan, and that the administration's new approach was somewhat different from the so-called "Annapolis process". According to informed diplomats, the new American ideas include holding intensive negotiations between Israel and the PA with active US involvement. The talks would have a "time-ceiling" of two years and will proceed in accordance with the "roadmap" plan. However, the reported proposals are handicapped by the conspicuous absence of any defined "end game", which observers say would render them a mere repetition of past failed efforts. Earlier this week, US officials told their European colleagues that the Obama administration could soon declare an agreement for "confidence-building measures" drafted by Israel and the Palestinians for the purpose of resuming talks. But Israel is unlikely to agree to a complete halt on settlement expansion -- a key Palestinian demand ahead of any resumption of talks. PA officials Nabil Shaath told reporters in Ramallah that the Palestinians respected Obama but wouldn't be duped into committing past mistakes again. "I would say, Mr Obama, we love you, but I am sorry this is not enough to bring us to the peace process," he said. Palestinian officials have also dismissed the idea of holding a US-brokered meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu in New York as a "non-starter". The idea of the meeting was leaked this week by sources close to the US administration, which some commentators interpret as expressing mounting American frustration over the failure of the Obama administration to make progress in Middle East peacemaking. The Netanyahu government has consistently resisted US pressure to freeze settlement expansion in the West Bank, arguing that Israel must keep up building settler units in order to meet housing demands necessitated by "natural growth". However, to the Palestinians and the bulk of the international community, Israeli intransigence in this regard only underscores its adamant refusal to end its occupation of the West Bank and allow for the creation of a viable Palestinian state. During his visit to London and Berlin, Netanyahu reiterated old claims that the settlements were not an obstacle to peace and that the real obstacle lies in what he called Palestinian refusal to recognise the right of Jews to live in the land of Israel. Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman this week decided to dispatch a high-profile propaganda team to the US in an attempt to change public perceptions with regards to the settlement issue. The team will visit several US states and meet with politicians, public figures and mainstream media representatives. Earlier, Lieberman was quoted as saying that he didn't foresee the possibility of peace occurring in the next 16 years. He also rejected statements made by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad proposing the declaration of a Palestinian state by 2011 with or without Israeli agreement. Fayyad said his government, in cooperation and coordination with the international community, would work hard to build institutions and infrastructure in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It would be irresponsible, he said, to leave the task of building a Palestinian state hostage to Israeli whims and procrastinations.
