BICOM

It emerged yesterday that the two senior negotiators heading the Palestinian Authority (PA) delegation in recent peace talks with Israel have submitted their resignations.

Saeb Erekat and Mohammed Shtayyeh are thought to have sat opposite the Israeli delegation led by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Isaac Molcho on a least 16 occasions since peace talks resumed in JulyIn an interview yesterday with Egyptian TV station CBC, PA President Mahmoud Abbas revealed Erekat and Shtayyeh had resigned, commenting “We can’t say that there has been any progress [in the talks].” Nonetheless, Abbas appeared to indicate that the peace talks would continue, saying “Either we can convince them to return, and we’re trying with them, or we form a new delegation.”

Shtayyeh’s office confirmed that both he and Erekat had handed in their resignations ten days ago but that “We still haven’t received a reply [from Abbas] to our request to quit.” Erekat meanwhile did not elaborate on his reasons for resigning in an interview with Reuters TV. However, he said “In reality, the negotiations stopped last week in light of the settlement announcements.” Tensions grew during the talks last week as both sides accused the other of dishonesty regarding an Israeli announcement, immediately after having released a second batch of 26 long-term Palestinian prisoners, to advance construction plans beyond the pre-1967 borders.

An unnamed Israeli official quoted in the Jerusalem Post played down the significance of Erekat and Shtayyeh’s resignations, describing the move as “brinkmanship.” The official said, “This is the way the Palestinians negotiate, and we are familiar with it… Unfortunately, this is the standard.” US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “The fact that President Abbas went out and reaffirmed his commitment today … is a good sign, and we’ll continue to pursue it [peace talks] on the same timeframe.”