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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/13/us-palestinians-israel-obama-idUSTRE73C05V20110413



By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON | Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:52pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States plans a new push to promote comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday, suggesting a stronger U.S. hand in trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

President Barack Obama will lay out U.S. policy toward the Middle East and North Africa in the coming weeks, Clinton told Arab and U.S. policy makers in a speech that placed particular emphasis on Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Obama's launch of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks last year went nowhere and he is under pressure to make a new initiative or face the prospect of the Palestinians seeking the U.N. General Assembly's blessing for a Palestinian state.

"The president will be speaking in greater detail about America's policy in the Middle East and North Africa in the coming weeks," Clinton said at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, a gathering sponsored by Qatar and the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

"America's core interests and values have not changed, including our commitment to promote human rights, resolve long-standing conflicts, counter Iran's threats and defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies," she added. "This includes renewed pursuit of comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace."

Clinton spoke against the backdrop of the popular revolts that have toppled long-time authoritarian leaders in Tunisia and Egypt this year and spurred public protests in much of the Arab world, including Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen.

"The status quo between Palestinians and Israelis is no more sustainable than the political systems that have crumbled in recent months," she said, saying the only way to meet both people's aspirations was through a two-state solution.

"And while it is a truism that only the parties themselves can make the hard choices for peace, there is no substitute for continued, active American leadership -- and the president and I are committed to that," she added.

LITTLE TO SHOW FOR OBAMA EFFORTS

While Obama came into office saying that settling the six-decade Arab Israeli conflict would be a priority, he has little to show for his effort.

Peace talks aimed at ending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians broke down last year after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to extend a partial freeze on Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

The core issues in the conflict include borders, security, the future of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in territory Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East War, and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

Netanyahu is widely expected to visit the United States in may and there have been media reports that he may float fresh ideas on how to get the peace process going again.

Speaking at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum earlier on Tuesday, Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, suggested Obama could sketch out a new diplomatic initiative soon.

"It is very possible that President Obama will even step out ahead of that (Netanyahu's visit) and possibly -- I say possibly -- make his own contribution to where he thinks the process ought to go," Kerry said, saying this could lead to "a responsible effort" toward solving the conflict.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110413/wl_nm/us_palestinians_israel_usa

New U.S. peace push must come soon: Palestinians


– Wed Apr 13, 8:53 am ET
RAMALLAH (Reuters) – The United States must move fast on its planned drive to revive Middle East talks before Palestinians seek recognition as a state, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday.

"It's time for the American administration to move before September," said President Mahoud Abbas's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdainah.

Given a continuing impasse despite 18 years of talks, Palestinian leaders aim to ask the U.N. General Assembly in September for recognition of statehood on all of the territory Israel occupied in 1967. That would include Gaza, over which the Palestinian Authority currently has no control.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that the United States plans a new push to promote comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, suggesting a stronger hand by Washington to try to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Talk about plans and new initiatives is not enough. There should be an effective U.S. role and strong policy against settlements," Abu Rdainah said in response.

"The administration has started to realize the situation in the Mideast is dangerous," he added.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was to brief Western representatives in Brussels on Wednesday on his bid for nearly $5 billion in investment to launch a Palestinian state.

The United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have praised Fayyad's drive over the past two years to establish the institutions and attributes of a modern state in time for the General Assembly meeting.

U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down last September in a dispute over continued Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

In a speech to Arab and U.S. policy makers that placed particular emphasis on Israeli-Palestinian peace, Clinton said President Barack Obama will lay out his policy toward the Middle East and North Africa in the coming weeks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned against unilateral moves such as declaring statehood, arguing that a solution could only be achieved by direct negotiations.

Abbas refuses to resume the suspended talks until Israel freezes all settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, arguing that Jewish settlers are being allowed to take more land away from a future Palestinian state every week.

An Israeli government official, who declined to be named, said Israel was ready to begin negotiations again at any time.

"Israel remains ready for the immediate start of peace talks. Unfortunately until now the Palestinians have prevented such talks from beginning," the official said.

Netanyahu is widely expected to visit the United States in May and media reports have said he may float fresh ideas on how to get the peace process going again.

(Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, editing by Paul Taylor)

(Reporting by Ali Sawafta; writing by Maayan Lubell; editing by Douglas Hamilton)
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http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/fayyad-to-request-5-billion-to-launch-palestinian-state-1.355757


Fayyad to request $5 billion to launch Palestinian state
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says donors have 'welcomed' his plan to launch the state, and will officially present the plan at a pledging conference in June.
By Reuters


Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will meet with Western representatives in Brussels on Wednesday and request nearly 5 billion dollars in investment to launch a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian Authority's three-year development plan, obtained by Reuters, requires 1.467 billion dollars this year, 1.754 billion dollars in 2012 and 1.596 billion dollars for 2013.



"We have distributed the plan to the donors and they have welcomed it," Palestinian Planning Minister Ali al-Jarbawi said

The plan will be presented formally to donor countries at a pledging conference in June, he said.

Palestinian leaders plan to ask the United Nations General Assembly in September to recognize a Palestinian state in all the lands Israel occupied in 1967.

Israel has warned that unilateral moves cannot replace a negotiated peace agreement, but the Palestinians say nearly two decades of talks have failed to give them a state.

The United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have praised Fayyad's drive over the past two years to establish the institutions and attributes of a modern state in time for the General Assembly meeting in September.

"The journey has been long and arduous, but the end is now in sight. We are now in home stretch to freedom," Fayyad says in the introduction to the plan. "Now it is time for us to be the masters of our own destiny in a state of our own."

The plan says "the next three years will witness a transformation in the nature of external aid from 'life support' to real investment in the future of Palestine".

It calls for an economy led by the private sector, reducing government's recurrent expenditure while increasing development spending.

It says GDP growth is expected to reach nine percent this year, rising to 10 percent in 2012 and 12 percent in 2013. Unemployment is projected to decline from 25 percent in 2009 to 15 percent in 2013.

The fiscal framework projects 16 percent annualized growth in revenue over the three years, with total net revenues exceeding 2 billion dollars in 2011 and well above 3 billion dollars in 2013, due to an increase in tax revenues.

The development plan's inclusion of the Gaza Strip ignores the fact that it is currently under the control of Hamas. The Islamist movement took over the strip in 2007, and refuses to recognize the existence of the State of Israel.

Hamas and the more moderate West Bank-based PA have not cooperated in the past, however, some steps have been taken in recent months to increase dialogue between the two groups. No concrete progress has been reported as of yet, and Prime Minister Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel will not negotiate with a joint PA-Hamas government.

The document called for a withdrawal of Israel from the West Bank, saying "development of vast areas of West Bank land, isolated and damaged by the occupation, will also require sustained effort and investment for many years to come"

Israel has said that only a negotiated treaty to establish a Palestinian state living in peace with Israelis can resolve the Middle East conflict. However, talks hit a standstill in September after Israel resumed building in the West Bank after a 9 month settlement freeze.



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