Mideast Quartet urges Israel to stop West Bank settlements By GREGORY KATZ, Associated Press Writer MAY 2,08
LONDON - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad warned Friday that peace talks could collapse unless Israel changes course and accepts a more conciliatory approach in negotiations. Fayyad, in London for diplomatic talks, said Israel has not complied with any of the obligations set out at the U.S.-backed peace conference in Annapolis, Md., late last year.Israel has failed to meet any of its obligations from the road map, including a freeze in settlement activity, he said. Unless that changes, the political process is being stripped of its meaning.Fayyad gave a highly pessimistic progress report after meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. He said the Palestinian government had met its commitments by reforming its financial sector and praised the donor community for providing additional money desperately needed by Palestinian authorities.In response, Israeli diplomats released remarks that Livni made in private meetings with Fayyad and other leaders earlier in the day.They said she had told Fayyad that 60 road blocks, one major checkpoint, and other impediments to Palestinian freedom of movement had been removed, and that an additional 5,000 work permits have been granted to help Palestinians seeking work inside Israel.
However, the United Nations says there are more than 500 obstacles impeding movement in the West Bank, including gates, checkpoints and dirt mounds blocking passages. The 60 impediments Livni referred to are mostly dirt mounds, the removal of which has had little significance.Many of these measures involve significant security risks for Israel, she said, according to the released remarks. We expect the (Palestinian Authority) to live up to its obligations in order to ensure that these steps will not be exploited by terrorists and endanger further progress.But she said Israel needs assurances that the Palestinians will actively fight terrorism before it takes any further steps.Fayyad said the Palestinian Authority needed roughly $1 billion to meet its obligations for the second half of this year.But he said Israel had refused to take steps that would allow normal economic activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.The remarks came after the Middle East peace Quartet — the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the United Nations — urged Israel to cease all settlement activity in the West Bank. The diplomats called for more negotiations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.There were no signs of a breakthrough, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said an agreement on the creation of an independent Palestinian state remains possible during President Bush's waning days in office.
It's hard work and it's labor intensive and I know there's skepticism, but I think they do have a chance to get an agreement by the end of the year and that's what we're going to work for every day, she said.Rice cited Northern Ireland as an example of a conflict that seemed intractable until just before peace was achieved.Rice said Arab countries that have pledged money to the Palestinian Authority, but not delivered, will be prodded to come up with the funding they have promised.Last year, a Paris donor meeting netted $7.7 billion in aid pledges to the Palestinians over three years. The money was earmarked both for the Palestinian budget and reform and development programs. The optimism that surrounded the pledges has long since faded.Clearly when you make a pledge you ought to fulfill it, and that will be my message," Rice said. According to U.S. figures, only $215 million of roughly $835 million pledged by Arab League nations has been handed over to the Palestinians, with the shortfall contributing to the economic and humanitarian crisis in the occupied territories. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a special Quartet envoy to the region, is focusing on the economic crisis. He expressed frustration Friday at the slow pace of negotiations with the Israeli government on agreements to lift roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank so normal business activity can resume.
With Blair's help, the struggling Palestinian government is organizing an investment conference in Bethlehem later this month. The meeting is designed to showcase moneymaking possibilities in the region for investors willing to gamble on the possibility of improved security conditions. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, reading the statement after the Friday morning meeting, said the Quartet expressed its deep concern at Israel's continued settlement building on the West Bank and called for all outposts built since March 2001 to be dismantled. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said the Jewish state was not building new settlements and was only allowing natural growth in existing settlements.
We have not changed our position on this, he said. The written statement by the Quartet members read out by Ban explicitly states that natural growth of the settlements is unacceptable. He also expressed concern over worsening humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip. A U.N. official reported Friday that rising prices and funding shortages have forced the U.N. to stop providing emergency food aid to more than 13 percent of the 750,000 Palestinian refugees it generally feeds in Gaza. Associated Press Diplomatic Writer Anne Gearan contributed to this report.
Source: Middle East Quartet Date: 02 May 2008
Statement by Middle East Quartet, 2 May 2008 SG/2137
Following is the text of the statement issued today in London by the Quartet ( United Nations, Russian Federation, United States and European Union):
Representatives of the Quartet -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, High Representative for European Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel -- met today in London to discuss the situation in the Middle East. They were joined by Quartet Representative Tony Blair.
The Quartet expressed its strong support for ongoing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and encouraged the parties to make every effort to realize the shared goal of an agreement on the establishment of a Palestinian State by the end of 2008. Commending the parties for their continuous and intensive negotiations, the Quartet emphasized the urgent need for progress and called on the international community to remain constructively engaged in support of negotiations with the goal of the establishment of a Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza and an end to the conflict.
The Quartet emphasized the importance of visible progress on the ground to build confidence and create an atmosphere supportive of negotiations. The Quartet welcomed concrete steps by both sides in the wake of the trilateral meeting between Secretary of State Rice, Prime Minister Fayyad and Defense Minister Barak, and stressed the urgent need for rapid and continued implementation of these and previous commitments to improve conditions on the ground. While taking note of some positive steps, including the removal of some roadblocks and an outpost by Israel, and improved security performance by the Palestinian Authority, the Quartet noted that much more remained to be done to improve the situation on the ground in order to change the conditions of life in the West Bank and to keep the political process on track.
In this context, the Quartet expressed its support for Quartet Representative Tony Blair, and underscored the urgent need for progress and close donor coordination. It also expressed its strong backing for the planned Bethlehem Conference on Private Sector Investment in May as well as the parties' agreement to improve security and economic conditions in Jenin, which can offer a model for important progress on the ground.
Noting the particular importance of justice sector reform, the Quartet looked forward to the meeting that will take place in Berlin in June to promote and coordinate donor assistance in this area.
The Quartet called upon both sides to fulfil their obligations under the Road Map. It also called on both sides to refrain from any steps that undermine confidence or could prejudice the outcome of negotiations. In this context, the Quartet expressed its deep concern at continuing settlement activity and called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity including natural growth, and to dismantle outposts erected since March 2001.
It called on the Palestinian Authority to fulfil its commitments to fight terrorism and to accelerate steps to rebuild and refocus its security apparatus. It urged Israel and the Palestinian Authority to increase cooperation in that respect and to facilitate the delivery of security assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
The Quartet condemned continuing rocket attacks from Gaza on southern Israel, including against Sderot and Ashkelon, as well as the terrorist attacks at a seminary in Jerusalem on 6 March. The Quartet also expressed deep concern at Palestinian civilian casualties, including the recent death of a mother and four of her children in Gaza. It called for an end to all violence and terror and urged all parties to take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of affected civilians in accordance with international law.
Noting its deep concern over humanitarian conditions in Gaza, the Quartet called for continued emergency and humanitarian assistance and the provision of essential services to Gaza without obstruction. The Quartet expressed its continuing concern over the closure of major Gaza crossing points given the impact on the Palestinian economy and daily life. The Quartet condemned the terrorist attack on Nahal Oz fuel terminal on 9 April, and noted that such attacks on the Gaza crossings interfere with the supply of essential services and undermine the interests of the Palestinian people. Principals strongly encouraged Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt to work together to formulate a new approach on Gaza that would provide security to all Gazans, end all acts of terror, provide for the controlled and sustained opening of the Gaza crossings for humanitarian reasons and commercial flows, support the legitimate Palestinian Authority Government, and work towards conditions that would permit implementation of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access.
Looking forward to a productive meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, the Quartet encouraged all parties to do their part to support Palestinian institutional capacity-building and economic development. The Quartet called for all donors to follow through on pledges made at the December 2007 Paris Donors' Conference. Underlining the crucial role of Arab States in support of the peace process, and the importance of the Arab League peace initiative, the Quartet encouraged the Arab States to fulfil both their political and financial roles in support of the Annapolis process.
The Quartet also discussed the proposal for an international meeting in Moscow to lend continued support to the parties in their negotiations and efforts on the ground.
The Quartet authorized its envoys to continue to work to facilitate the achievement of all of these goals.
The Quartet reaffirmed its commitment to a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on United Nations Security Council resolutions 242, 338, 1397 and 1515.
For information media • not an official record.
