BICOM

Haaretz reports this morning that US Secretary of State John Kerry is hoping to convene a four-way peace summit in June, which would see the participation of US President Obama, Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah.

The report also suggests that Egypt and Turkey would have some involvement in the meeting and that the possibility will be high on the agenda of upcoming visits by King Abdullah and Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan to Washington. The summit would most likely take place in Washington in June, although the exact date would avoid clashing with the Israeli Presidential Conference during the same month, which also marks the ninetieth birthday celebrations of Israel’s President Shimon Peres.

Since taking office, Kerry has sought to kick-start direct peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, becoming a frequent visitor to the region. He recently emphasised that urgency is needed over the next two years in order to realise a two-state solution. Haaretz, which cites “well placed US sources” says that it is unclear whether the proposed summit would be dependent on Kerry having already achieved a breakthrough to pave the way for direct Israeli-Palestinian talks or not. Apparently, if the summit does take place, terms of reference may be adopted in advance, including the principle of two states for two peoples, the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which is aimed at facilitating a comprehensive peace across the Arab world and economic aid for the Palestinian Authority.

In other news, Maariv reports this morning that Kerry has secured agreement for the United States and other foreign powers to invest in large-scale economic initiatives in the Palestinian areas of the West Bank, designed to revive the ailing PA-run economy.