Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Netanyahu : No way to 'impose' Middle East peace
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Africa
Europe
Latin America
Middle East
North America
Netanyahu : No way to 'impose' Middle East peace
AFP - Tuesday, April 20
Send
IM Story
Print
Palestinian labourers work on a housing project in the Jewish settlement of Har Homa in east Jerusalem in 2009. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday poured cold water on the notion of any dramatic new US peace plan, as speculation mounted over Washington's next move in the Middle East impasse.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday poured cold water on the notion of any dramatic new US peace plan, as speculation mounted over Washington's next move in the Middle East impasse.
Netanyahu, in an interview with ABC television, argued that Israelis and Palestinians would have to negotiate towards a final settlement, not work off a new document defining the eventual parameters for a Palestinian state.
"I don't believe anyone will seriously think that you can impose peace. Peace has to come from the parties sitting down with each other, resolving their differences," said Netanyahu.
"You can't end the peace negotiation unless you begin it. I am for beginning it right now," said the Israeli leader, who has been involved in a public test of wills over Jewish settlements in Jerusalem with US President Barack Obama.
Washington's foreign policy echo chamber has been reverberating with speculation that the Obama White House could try to blow open the deadlock between Israelis and Palestinians with its own new peace plan.
There is debate over whether apparently carefully placed leaks on this theme in The Washington Post and The New York Times this month augur a new approach, are meant to pressure Israel, or are just a sign of US impatience.
What is clear however, is that prospects for any fresh US strategy are darkened by hostility between the two sides, the American spat with the Israeli government and splits in Palestinian politics.
Arab leaders have ruled out new peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians in the absence of a full settlement freeze in the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, a notion the Netanyahu government has rejected.
Obama acknowledged last week that the United States could not "impose solutions unless the participants in these conflicts are willing to break out of the old patterns of antagonism."
"Sometimes, we'll take one step forward and two steps back and there will be frustrations."
But some observers think that focusing the parties on "big issues" could defuse current rows over interim but emotive questions, like Israeli settlements.
The president has waged a public spat with Netanyahu over Jewish settlements, been hampered by Palestinian political divides and failed to persuade Arab states to offer Israel incentives.
All this is overshadowed by Iran and Obama's efforts to frame new international sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program, which Israel views as a threat to its very existence.
Any new US plan would be designed to bypass current disputes in pursuit of final agreement.
For instance, if the status of Jerusalem -- claimed partly or entirely by both sides as a future capital -- can be solved, irritants like settlement building in the city may no longer occur.
The administration says it has made no decisions on where to go next, but pledges not to surprise the main players.
But an Obama plan would likely mirror suggestions laid down by ex-president Bill Clinton before he left office in 2001.
The "Clinton parameters" stipulate Palestinian sovereignty over Gaza and most of the West Bank, a solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees, an undivided Jerusalem and security guarantees for both sides.
But unveiling a new US plan would involve significant risk.
"I am not sure that now is the right moment for the president to do that, since when you put something out there, you are stuck with it," said Steven Cook, of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Cook suggested that a renewed effort to get Israelis and Palestinians to take part in "proximity talks" might be more of a low-risk option, and could provide cover for more significant covert contacts between the parties.
If both sides rejected a plan, or ensured its demise through bickering and mistrust, the president will have wasted his best diplomatic shot.
The president's intervention may also be more effective later, when a deal needs to be closed.
Grand plans for Middle East peace also have a habit of coming unstuck, as did the "road-map" sponsored by the Middle East diplomatic quartet.
Still, there are those who believe a new US plan does have a chance -- if it is properly supported.
"It is something that has to be really well prepared. You have to have gamed out phases two, three and four if you are doing something like that," said Daniel Levy, a former senior Israeli policy advisor, now with the New America Foundation.
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
Related Articles
Ex-rebels say Sudan regime deployed army in tense region AFP - 2 hours 42 minutes ago
Al-Qaeda commanders killed in Iraq AFP - 1 hour 29 minutes ago
Kyrgyzstan shaken by new round of deadly violence AFP - 1 hour 55 minutes ago
Ahmadinejad clears sites for new Iran enrichment plants AFP - 2 hours 21 minutes ago
Travellers worldwide struggle to escape ash cloud chaos AFP - Tuesday, April 20
News Search
Top Stories
Eruption tapering off, spewing less ash: experts
Generation Beshir: Sudan's leader holds youth vote
Airlines urge governments to reopen routes
Fog, rain delay Discovery's return to Earth
Venezuelan boxer hangs himself after murder rap
More Top Stories »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
Toad is a telltale for impending quakes: scientists
Volcano cloud pushes European airlines to the brink: analysts
Ocean census uncovers 'new world' of marine microbe life
EU emergency talks as volcano cloud havoc worsens
Goldman fraud charges trigger possible wider crackdown
More Most Viewed »
Toad is a telltale for impending quakes: scientists
Two-million-year-old hominid sheds light on evolution
Taiwan's male 'Susan Boyle' a web sensation
EU emergency talks as volcano cloud havoc worsens
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Asia Entertainment
Photos
World Cup 2010
Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service |
Privacy Policy |
Community |
Intellectual Property Rights Policy |
Help
Other News on Tuesday, 20 April 2010 Al Qaeda's two top Iraq leaders killed in raid
Al-Qaeda commanders killed in Iraq
Microsoft yanks "sexting" shot from Kin ad
YouTube to stream IPL semis and final live in US
Iraqi panel orders vote recount in Baghdad
Generation Beshir: Sudan's leader holds youth vote
US-TECH Summary
Air traffic bans boost video conferencing: Cisco
U.S. faults Sudan election but will work with victors
|
Airlines urge governments to reopen routes
Palm shares slide after software chief quits
Venezuelan boxer hangs himself after murder rap
Videogame titan Ubisoft going green
On anniversary, pope calls Church wounded sinner
|
Startup ALGO claims trading software nears speed of light
U.N. fears Congo pullout will hurt fight against rape
|
Netanyahu : No way to 'impose' Middle East peace
Official: Kyrgyz president leaves Kazakhstan
Ethnic group in Myanmar gears up for war, peace
Video shows Taliban swarming mountaintop base
2 bombs hit northwestern Pakistani city; 23 dead
Bombs at market, school kill 24 in Pakistan's Peshawar
3 rescued, 5 days after China quake killed 2,000
Armed Thai troops guard business zone
Air traffic bans boost video conferencing: Cisco
|
Startup ALGO claims trading software nears speed of light
|
Indonesia court upholds blasphemy law
Palm slides after losing key exec, RadioShack
|
India's TCS quarterly profit up 47%, beating forecast
China plants working for Microsoft break labor law
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
"Back-up Plan" worked well for director Alan Poul
Ex-employee to sue Prada Japan over alleged harassment
Punk pioneer McLaren to be buried on Thursday
Not as close Aerosmith members put differences aside to tour
Rolling Stone puts entire archives online
Weinstein brothers closer to acquiring Miramax: WSJ
Pop pioneer hails Germany despite Holocaust misery
After 100 years, gypsy jazzman Django plays on
Final tally puts Kick-Ass atop box office
|
Jennifer Aniston sees movie directing in future
|
Volcanic ash hits Iron Man 2 premiere, strands stars
|
Back-up Plan worked well for director Alan Poul
|
Punk pioneer McLaren to be buried on Thursday
|
Turkey offers to act as Iran intermediary
Volcano fallout raises specter of airline aid
Facebook? Twitter? Microsoft tops social media use
Pope says he leads a 'wounded and sinner' church
Qatar suspends new visa plan
Fog, rain again delay shuttle Discovery landing
Few flights resume in Europe, new ash cloud reported
|
Asia computer sales up 38% in first quarter: IDC
Afghanistan kicks off registration for elections: official
Greece may use EU loan by next month: finance minister
Goldman Sachs posts soaring $3.46 bln profit
Online conferencing takes off amid volcano chaos
Turkey ready to be Iran nuclear deal intermediary
Amazon files lawsuit to block N.Carolina's data request
UK financial watchdog launches Goldman Sachs probe
Afghanistan kicks off 'registration' for elections
Thai red shirts call off march, stock prices jump
|
Third of U.S. teens with phones text 100 times a day
U.S. warns Syria on weapons transfers
LibDems target banks to build on momentum
|
Greece pays dearly to raise 1.95 bln euros
Google cyberattack hit password system: report
Iraqis say Qaeda deaths will not improve their lives
|
Al-Qaeda commanders 'killed in Iraq'
Netanyahu urges oil sanctions on Iran
Think-tank unveils website to boost aid controls
Greece borrows 1.95 bln euros but at high rate
Australian PM wins health deal aimed at re-election
|
South Sudan party accuses north of troop buildup
Facebook pages group people based on likes
Greek bond yields hit record high on investor fears
North Korea readying for 3rd nuclear test: report
|
IBM raises earnings outlook as technology spending improves
Bolivia hosts 'people's' climate change event
China says door not shut to negotiations with Iran
|
Asia computer sales up 38% in first quarter: IDC
White House cranks up pressure on finance reform
South Africa's Malema to escape ANC discipline
|
Indonesia: Terror chief's relative gets 8 years
Kyrgyz leaders try to quell violence
|
Expedition recreates 'Bounty' survival-at-sea saga
U.S. helps African navies with floating academy
|
Filipino slaying suspect endorses a prez candidate
Goldman Sachs posts huge profits amid fraud scandal
As India booms, social welfare struggles to catch up
Indonesian graft allows Islamist militancy to flourish
Thai protesters back down after live fire threat
Tanning bed usage may be addictive, study warns
Thai protesters fortify camps in heart of Bangkok
US summons Syria diplomat over Hezbollah arms transfer
U.S. to end military operations in Haiti on June 1
Witness
Malaysian lawmaker in trouble over polygamy
Google cyberattack hit password system: report
|
Amazon files lawsuit to block North Carolina's data request
|
Facebook? Twitter? Microsoft tops social media use
|
Fake security software still big problem
Volcanic ash hits "Iron Man 2" premiere, strands stars
China Mobile says profit up 1.1 percent
Third of U.S. teens with phones text 100 times a day
|
India hikes rates to counter 'worrisome' inflation
Nissan halts some vehicle production amid air havoc
Thomson
Asian markets boosted by US rally, bargain-buying
Indonesia under fire for upholding scripture over rights
Toyota pays record US fine, widens safety recall
Indonesia court upholds blasphemy law
Congo musicians, Rolling Stones at Cannes side-fest
Nissan to halt output due to parts shipment delay
Sri Lanka to host Indian film awards
China restricts pre-sales to curb property prices
MGM's uncertain future stops work on new 007 film
Pakistani o/n rates rise; rupee weakens; stocks down
Fox renews "Cops" for 23rd season
EU chamber says China business climate worsening
Anniversary for Brasilia leaves architect 'sad'
India's central bank hikes key interest rates
Music legend John Hammond gets film treatment
Grandiose sequel for epic Russian film
Judge rejects Carly Simon suit against Starbucks
Reality TV shatters taboos in India
Laurence Fishburne staying on CSI
|
Sex and the City 2 tickets already a hot item
|
Brother of Precious star apologizes for abuse
|
Judge rejects Carly Simon suit against Starbucks
|
Teen actress flexes muscles in Kick-Ass
|
Dragon testifies to box office life after opening
|
Fox renews Cops for 23rd season
|
Music legend John Hammond gets film treatment
|
James Bond movie delayed due to studio auction
|
Kelsey Grammer shines in La Cage Aux Folles
|
Pirates take 3 Thai ships with 77 crew
|
Internet video stokes Sudan poll fraud fears
|
Imposed Mideast solution would stoke violence: Israel FM
|
NATO troops fire on vehicle, kill 4 unarmed Afghans
|
Apple says iPad 3G available on April 30
|
Undersea telecoms cables face growing risks: report
|
Kylie back with single in June, album in July
|
Lily Allen, Dizzee Rascal lead shortlist for Ivors
|
Zoe Saldana is one tough cookie
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights