tel aviv | Israel must find a way to resume negotiations with the Palestinians and has a responsibility to try to ease tensions with its neighbors in the region, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Oct. 3 amid prodding from the United States to return to peace talks.
Standing next to U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Barak pushed back a bit on the Pentagon chief’s warning that Israel is becoming increasingly isolated in the region, threatening its security.
Making his first trip to Israel as defense secretary, Panetta has pressed the Obama administration’s view that the two sides must restart the long-stalled peace talks. And during a news conference with Barak, Panetta said it’s time for bold action by both sides to move toward a negotiated two-state solution.
The visit came amid new international pressure to reach a peace deal by the end of next year, fueled by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ recent bid for the U.N. Security Council to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
The Quartet — a team of negotiators from the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia — is urging the Israelis and Palestinians to produce comprehensive proposals on territory and security within three months. The Quartet is also urging both sides to avoid “provocative actions.”
The Barak administration opposes Abbas’ U.N. bid, and Panetta’s visit was clearly part of a broad campaign to avoid such a vote, and instead nudge the two sides back to the table.
On Oct. 2, Panetta warned that Israel risks eroding its own security if it does not reach out to its neighbors, such as Turkey and Egypt, where relations are eroding.
“It’s pretty clear that at this dramatic time in the Middle East, when there have been so many changes, that it is not a good situation for Israel to become increasingly isolated. And that’s what’s happening,” he said.
Barak offered only general agreement but made no commitments that Israel would be more receptive to discussions about the settlements.
But, he added, “I fully agree that we have to look for any reasonable and proper way to ease tensions with Turkey, with Egypt, to find a way to resume negotiations in a sincere and effective manner with the Palestinians.”
Barak also criticized Abbas’ move at the U.N., saying the “events of last week in New York clearly prove that there are limits to the Palestinians’ capacity to navigate the world.”
And while he agreed Israel needs to reach out to its neighbors, he said that it’s clear there are others in the world “who would like to see Israel cornered into some kind of isolation.”
Panetta met Oct. 3 with Barak in Tel Aviv on the first leg of a Middle East trip, and then he traveled to the West Bank for a meeting with Abbas.
There were no public remarks by the leaders after that meeting. But senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said that Panetta told Abbas that the Quartet provides a good foundation for resuming talks.
“President Abbas appreciated the commitment and said we stand ready to resume negotiations, on the basis of the recent Quartet statement, provided Israel carries out what it is asked for in the statement, i.e. a settlement freeze and accepting” a two-state solution on the 1967 lines.
Palestinian officials said privately they believed the Panetta visit was largely meant to show that despite differences of opinion, the United States cares about and wants to maintain the relationship with the Palestinians.
Panetta’s visit to Israel came six months after his predecessor, Robert Gates, traveled to the region to meet with Israeli leaders and make the first journey by a Pentagon chief to the West Bank to talk with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.