U.S. proposes trilateral talks with Israel, PA

By Barak Ravid
Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies
08/06/2008

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/991070.html

The United States has proposed holding trilateral talks with Israel and the Palestinians in order to accelerate negotiations on the core issues and bridge the major gaps that still exist. But both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have expressed reservations about this idea, in light of their commitment to the principle of direct bilateral negotiations. Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia announced on Friday that Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to start drafting sections of a proposed peace accord that will lay out each side's positions on the core issues of borders, Jerusalem and the refugees.

The American proposal for a tripartite effort appears to have been raised by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Washington last Tuesday. The idea had been making the rounds of the State Department for several weeks. Rice will fly here Saturday night to try to push negotiations forward, and is likely to visit the region again later this month. The general feeling in the U.S. administration is that to date, neither side has shown maximum flexibility on the issues in dispute.

The American proposal calls for a meeting lasting several hours at which Rice or one of her senior aides would sit with the heads of the respective negotiating teams, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Qureia, or their representatives. The Americans have also suggested not holding the meeting in Jerusalem; Europe and Washington are both possible venues.

At this stage, the Americans do not plan to present a "bridging document" to the parties; rather, they want to discuss various possible formulations verbally.

A senior Israeli source told Haaretz that the American proposal may be a way of pressuring the two sides to produce something that the Bush administration can point to as progress. Israeli sources involved in the talks between Israel and the PA said there are still significant differences between the two sides, especially concerning borders, security arrangements and the refugees.

The sources confirmed that the parties have agreed to begin drafting their respective positions. But "the fact that the parties' positions are being written down does not solve the disputes," noted one, adding: "Thus far, the main points that have been written down deal with peripheral issues, not the core issues of refugees, borders and security arrangements."

Qureia also stressed that the decision to begin drafting an agreement did not necessarily reflect accord on the major issues. However, this will the first time since negotiations resumed more than six months ago that anything on these divisive issues has been put to paper.

"We agreed with the Israelis to begin writing these positions down," Qureia said late Friday. "Should negotiators reach agreement on an issue, they will then draft a single provision. If not, they will lay their divergent views out on paper."