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Post by Daniel on May 18, 2016 9:01:44 GMT -5
Kerry in Cairo to talk Mideast peace, Libya
May 18, 2016
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Cairo on Wednesday for talks with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Libya and to explore a proposal by the Egyptian leader to try to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kerry's brief Cairo stop follows a series of international meetings in Vienna on ways to end conflicts in Libya and Syria.
A U.S. official said Kerry wanted to explore in more detail a proposal on Tuesday by Sisi to mediate a reconciliation between rival Palestinian factions to pave the way toward a lasting peace accord with the Israelis.
Egypt was the first of a handful of Arab countries to recognize Israel with a U.S.-sponsored peace accord in 1979, but Egyptian attitudes toward their neighbors remain chilly.
Sisi's proposal, made during an impromptu speech at an economic conference, comes as France is pushing to organize an international conference to launch peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis.
continue reading
www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-egypt-kerry-idUSKCN0Y91SS
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Post by Daniel on May 23, 2016 9:31:47 GMT -5
Netanyahu: Arab Nations Can Help Bring ‘Real Peace’
By Jesse Lempel May 23, 2016
“Because, even because they have led My people astray, saying: Peace, and there is no peace; and when it buildeth up a slight wall, behold, they daub it with whited plaster.” Ezekiel 13:10
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday night that the Arab nations in the region can help facilitate a “real deal with the Palestinians,” adding that he has been discussing the issue with regional leaders “over the last few hours.”
“The initiatives I’m referring to are regional initiatives – meaning, aided by the Arab countries in the region to reach a real deal with the Palestinians,” Netanyahu said in a press conference following a meeting with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel. “We always thought it would be the opposite,” Netanyahu acknowledged, “but that is the direction today. I am constantly trying, including over the last few hours, to further contacts with various leaders in the region to help in this direction.”
Netanyahu’s comments come on the eve of his meeting with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls ahead of an international peace conference planned to take place in Paris at the beginning of June. Netanyahu has so far forcefully rejected the French conference, arguing that only direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians could advance peace and suggesting that the forum will be biased against Israel.
The latest remarks, however, suggest that Netanyahu places more confidence in the efforts of regional Arab governments than in European peacemaking conferences.
continue reading
www.breakingisraelnews.com/68258/netanyahu-arab-nations-can-help-bring-real-peace-05-16/
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Post by Daniel on May 25, 2016 18:11:58 GMT -5
Blair: Arab states will normalize Israel ties for peace talks
By Elad Benari
5/25/2016
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Tuesday that if the Netanyahu government agrees to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority on the basis of the Arab peace initiative, Arab states would be willing to take steps to normalize their relations with Israel, Haaretz reported.
Speaking at a conference in London, Blair said that there’s a chance, under the present circumstances in the Middle East, that Arab countries would be willing to be more flexible in framing the outlines of their initiative and take normalization steps while Israeli-Palestinian negotiations were underway, rather than waiting for a permanent status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Provided the Israeli government is ready to commit to a discussion around the Arab peace initiative ... it would be possible to have some steps of normalization along the way to give confidence to this process. With the new leadership in the region today that is possible. A lot will depend on the response of the Israeli government to [Egyptian] President Sisi’s initiative and to the Arab peace initiative, and to whatever steps the Israelis are ready to take,” he said, according to Haaretz.
Blair was referring to the Egyptian President’s call last week on Israelis and Palestinians to seize what he said was a "real opportunity" for peace.
continue reading
www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/212770
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