US to Host ‘Preliminary’ Talks Between Israel, Palestinians

Israel Wants Talks to Continue Through September to Stop Palestine UN Bid

Secretary of State John Kerry reported today that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, only yesterday spurned by both sides, will resume next week in Washington DC. At least, preliminary talks on the substance of potential future talks will be held.

The preliminary talks won’t necessarily have a lot of momentum behind them, with both Israeli and Palestinian officials having serious objections to the Kerry plan and Palestinian officials saying that the they want some general agreement on the 1967 borders being a starting point.

Remember, Israeli officials condemned the 1967 border idea only yesterday, and Jewish Home has threatened to withdraw from the Israeli government over the matter, threatening to force early elections.

Israeli officials also suggested they aren’t really taking the talks seriously as a way of reaching a deal, and rather suggested they want the talks to “get us past September” so the Palestinian Authority doesn’t have a chance to go to the UN General Assembly seeking recognition at the annual meeting.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.