Israeli-Palestinian talks stand at crossing point

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by David Harris

JERUSALEM, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Israelis and Palestinians are at a key point in their relations: they can have a true, lasting peace or else take the road to self destruction, Ron Pundak, one of the key architects of the original 1993 peace accord between the two Middle-Eastern neighbors warned Tuesday.

The options on the table are "to march towards peace, regional cooperation and prosperity," or "to move in the direction that we are moving now, a devastating direction," Pundak told an international gathering of academics at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

The real Zionists are those who believe in an Israeli state next to a state of Palestine, with eastern Jerusalem as its capital and its territory to include the West Bank, currently occupied by Israel, said Pundak, who now heads the Peres Center for Peace.

"I know what you want, you know what I want. It's time for decisions now," added leading Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, with a sense of urgency in his voice.

The peace camp on either side of the Israeli-Palestinian divide is convinced there is a now-or-never moment of opportunity, said Erekat.

Publicly, the Palestinians were highly critical of the June 14 speech by the Israeli Prime Minister, saying Benjamin Netanyahu was setting preconditions for talks with the Palestinians. These terms were flatly rejected by Palestinian leaders.

"He spent 42 minutes of a speech conditioning me, and in the 43rd minute he tells me to negotiate without preconditions," said Erekat.

Among the terms laid down by the Netanyahu government are a Palestinian recognition of Israel as the Jewish state, the future Palestinian state being fully demilitarized, no right of return to Israel for Palestinian refugees, and that there will be no dismantling of the major Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank.

The Israelis and Palestinians have been rather good at talking in secret without leaks, Erekat said, referring to several years of conversations that have led to understandings between the parties.

"They don't need negotiators anymore, they need decision makers," he said, speaking of both sides. The parties know what one another desires and it is up to Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to make it happen.