Israeli, Palestinian Peace Talks Get Under Way in Washington

The latest attempt to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians will kick-off in Washington on Monday evening when Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian chief negotiator Sa’ib Ariqat meet under the aegis of US Secretary of State John Kerry. Both the Israeli and Palestinian publics have shown little excitement or anticipation over the prospects for success. In addition to Livni and Ariqat, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s envoy Yitzhak Molcho and Palestinian representative Mohammed Shtayyeh are on hand to participate in the preliminary sessions at which the procedural plan for the negotiating sessions will be laid out. Kerry is expected to name former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk to serve as his envoy to the peace talks. The path was cleared for the talks to begin after the Israeli cabinet voted 13 to 7 to release 104 security prisoners held by Israel, many for capital crimes, since before the 1993 Oslo Accords. The move evoked strong reaction: families of those murdered by the soon-to-be-released terrorists expressed betrayal by their government; and Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home party – a coalition partner – called the Netanyahu government’s act a “disgrace.”  Nevertheless, it was not disgraceful enough for Bennett to leave the government. In Ramallah, hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets to protest the return to negotiations.