Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said at a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington yesterday that Israel was ready to sign a peace treaty with Palestine, RIA Novosti reports.
The peace talks started under US mediation in mid-2013. The sides were expected to reach an agreement by April 2014. Israel refused to release the remaining 26 out of 104 Palestinian convicts. In response, Palestine threatened to file bids for membership in 15 international organizations and treaties.
Yuval Steinitz, Israeli Minister for Strategic Planning, explained that Israel will release the convicts if Palestine calls its bids off. He noted that Israel needed confidence that President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas was ready for peace talks.
Steinitz added that Israel could release 14 convicts if the US release Jonathan Pollard. The latter is an ex-intelligence agent of the US suspected of spying for Israel. He was sentenced for life in 1985.
