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“Kerry's Plan: Core Issues, Then Gestures, and Finally Jerusalem”
by israelhayom.com   
June 15th, 2013

Senior diplomatic officials in Jerusalem say that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is set to unveil a gradual multistep peace plan between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Due to the expected plan, the U.S. has asked the European Union to step back for the time being from its own peace-seeking efforts. At this point, it is unclear whether EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will nix a planned upcoming trip to Israel and leave the stage for Kerry.

Kerry was supposed to visit Israel this week, but delayed his trip, in part to give Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas more time to decide whether to return to the negotiating table with Israel.

The U.S. is demanding that Abbas return to negotiations without preconditions, but Abbas has said that Israel must freeze all construction beyond the Green Line, including in Jerusalem, and release around 100 convicted Palestinian terrorists who have been imprisoned since before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.

Israel is not willing to accept any Palestinian preconditions for the renewal of peace talks. 

Under Kerry's plan, Israel and the Palestinians would immediately enter into negotiations on core issues, based on the recognition of two states, the right of the Palestinian people to independence and the preservation of Israel's security interests and main settlement blocs. At this first stage, the Palestinians would also receive an economic aid package.

After the two sides reach agreements on a number of core issues, Israel would make a gesture to the Palestinians that includes a freeze of settlement construction and the release of prisoners. 

The issue of Jerusalem would be left for the end of negotiations.

At this point, it is unclear whether Kerry will propose a target end date that would create a timetable for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, the Palestinians are again threatening to renew their efforts to achieve full statehood status at the U.N. Israeli officials said that such a step by the Palestinians would show that they are not willing to move toward a peace agreement with Israel. 

At the same time, some Israeli government ministers are speaking out against negotiations with the Palestinians. 

"I don't see peace on the horizon," Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday. "The entire Middle East is falling apart before our eyes, and none of [the countries in the region] are joining the World Zionist Organization.”

Speaking at the new Land of Israel Caucus in the Knesset, Bennett said the goal of the forum was to find an alternative to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

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