US Secretary of State John Kerry has left Israel feeling optimistic – but the Palestinians less so - after a three-day shuttle diplomacy visit.
Mr Kerry met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas separately to discuss peace process negotiations expected to take at least three months. Mr Kerry has told sources that he and Mr Netanyahu agreed "to do our homework over the course of the next weeks… with a view to seeing how we can really pull all of the pieces together and make some progress."
Before meeting with Mr Kerry yesterday, Mr Netanyahu said that he was "determined not only to resume the peace process with the Palestinians, but to make a serious effort to end this conflict once and for all".
According to sources, Mr Netanyahu has refused to freeze settlement expansion as requested by the Palestinians. Mr Netanyahu has also laid out Israel’s preconditions for a peace agreement – a Palestinian recognition of the Jewish state, a halt to unilateral initiatives in the international criminal court and for the West Bank Palestinian Authority to severe ties with Hamas.
