'Peace talks will continue'

2008-11-10 19:09

Jerusalem - Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday pledged to continue negotiations with the Palestinians if he wins a coming general election, softening earlier hints that he would abandon peace talks launched last year by US President George W Bush.

However, the hardline former Israeli prime minister offered no details on how he might advance peace talks.

Many of his public positions - from refusing to even consider sharing Jerusalem to staunch support for West Bank settlements - fall far short of Palestinian and international demands and are at odds with any hope of achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

His statement that peace talks would "move forward" if he were elected prime minister next February came a day after international Mideast peace mediators declared that US-backed negotiations must proceed after Bush leaves office. Netanyahu's comment was likely meant to show the Israeli electorate that he can get along with the rest of the world.

Speaking to reporters after meeting international peace envoy Tony Blair, Netanyahu said that if his hawkish Likud party returns to power, he would put a fresh emphasis on efforts to boost the ailing Palestinian economy but would not halt political talks.

"If we, as I believe, will form the next government, we will move both the political negotiations forward and the economic peace that we've been working on," Netanyahu said.

Resolve outstanding issues

A day earlier, his office had said the talks inaugurated at an international conference in Annapolis, Maryland, last November had failed to make headway and there was no point continuing with them.

The talks call on Israel and the Palestinians to resolve all outstanding issues between them, including the conflicting claims to the holy city of Jerusalem and a final border between Israel and a future Palestinian state.

Netanyahu gave few details on his vision for peace. But in a recent speech to parliament, he said Israel would have to retain all of Jerusalem and large chunks of West Bank territory claimed by the Palestinians.

The Palestinians object to any interim agreements, and Netanyahu's tough stance on the core issues would make it all but impossible to reach a peace deal.

Polls currently place Likud and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's centrist Kadima neck and neck ahead of the February 10 vote. Israel is holding the election, a year and a half ahead of schedule, because a corruption scandal is driving current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from office.

At Sunday's international conference in Egypt, the outgoing Israeli government, the Palestinians and the "Quartet" of international peace negotiators said talks must continue after Bush leaves office in January. Blair represents the Quartet: the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

'Comprehensive negotiations'

The negotiations were originally envisaged as producing a peace agreement by the end of this year, but both sides have acknowledged that will not happen and there has so far been little evident success.

Blair did not speak to reporters after Monday's meeting with Netanyahu. In an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, he acknowledged that some believe the political talks have failed, but stressed that negotiations must proceed.

"For the first time we have a political negotiation, which is comprehensive, discussing all the issues, including all the difficult issues," he said. "The task is to build on that foundation."

- AP