January, 3 was marked by a meeting between Israeli PM’s special envoy, layer Itshak Molkho with the head of the Palestinian negotiators, Saib Arikat. The members of the ‘Quartet’ and the Jordanian FM also participated in the meeting. None of the participants had high hopes as far as the results of this meeting were concerned. The Palestinian negotiator stressed that this was in no way a re-opening of official talks and that the Palestinian side agreed to participate in this meeting only out of respect to Jordan's King Abdullah.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton thanked the Jordanian government for its initiative and said that stable peace in the region is worth sacrifices from both parties to the conflict.
The King of Jordan is interested in the re-launch of efficient Israeli-Palestinian dialog as the situation in Israel has a direct impact on the stability of the situation in Jordan, where the majority of Jordan citizens are of Palestinian origin. The rapprochement between Fatah and Hamas add to the instability, while Jordan has long suspected that Israel wants to resolve the issue of a ‘Palestinian state’ by turning Jordan into such (for now, the ruling elite there is of Bedouin origin). However, the circumstances changed by the end of the year: despite all the mistrust between Jordanian and Israeli governments, Israel is now more interested in stabilization of the social situation in Jordan, as the spread of the ‘Arab spring’ followed by the rise of Muslim fundamentalists to power there would be catastrophic for Israel. For now Israel and Jordan have to be unwilling partners.
Meanwhile, the time for preventing an undesired outcome is running short: the ‘Quartet’s’ offer for re-opening the official negotiations expires on January, 26, and Makhmud Abbas made it clear that if the ‘Quartet’ fails to revive the talks, the Palestinian position will grow harder. Palestinian side keeps posing pre-conditions for talks re-opening, while Israel stands against any pre-conditions. For example, Palestine demanded that 123 Fatah members be freed from Israeli prisons; Israel refused to comply.
The Palestinian side had now choice but to participate in the Amman meeting under a great deal of pressure from the US, the EU and Jordan. In addition, Palestine has to support the image of full Israel’s responsibility for failing the attempts to re-open official dialog.
Israeli PM expressed his hope that the meeting in Amman will prove to be a good start for peaceful dialog for the whole 2012. After the 3-hour conversation in Amman that touched upon all basic conflict-points, the participants declared it to be very constructive. Jordanian PM promised that such meetings will be held repeatedly, the next one being scheduled for this week. However, the negotiators refused to reveal the details to the media.
By Peter Lukimson, exclusively to VK
