BICOM

US Secretary of State John Kerry wrapped up a three day visit to Israel and the region by announcing an agreement on measures to boost the West Bank economy, after meeting Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday in Jerusalem.

The two leaders also met on Monday evening and Kerry said yesterday, “I think it’s fair to say we made progress.” Kerry is seeking a formula under which Israeli and Palestinian leaders will return to direct talks. Yesterday he announced that all sides had agreed to new economic investment programs in the West Bank. However, Kerry was quick to note that this “is not in lieu of, or an alternative to, the political track.” He also stressed that all sides had “homework” to do and referred to forthcoming meetings in Washington to advance the process.

Netanyahu told Kerry, “We welcome any initiatives that you and others will bring forward in this regard” and pledged, “I am determined not only to resume the peace process with the Palestinians, but to make a serious effort to end this conflict once and for all.” Netanyahu stressed that in addition to an economic initiative there must also be “political discussions that will address a myriad of issues, foremost in our minds the questions of recognition and security.”

Kerry said yesterday that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had emphasised the importance of a release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, something Abbas is demanding from Israel in advance of renewed negotiations. But Kerry rejected reports that he was seeking to revise the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative as a basis for future talks.

The West Bank ecnonomy is facing severe difficulties after several years of growth, in part to a decline in donor aid. The transfer of taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the PA, suspended for a period after the PA’s successful bid to upgrade their status at the UN, was recently resumed.