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Netanyahu briefs Likud MKs on potential peace compromises
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday briefed the Likud parliamentary faction on US Secretary of State John Kerry’s latest visit to the region, during which he is thought to have presented a proposed framework for final status talks.
Although there was no official comment from Netanyahu or Likud MKs, Israeli media outlets published unattributed quotes from those who attended the meeting. According to the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu indicated that according to the framework, Israel would have to accept the pre-1967 borders plus land swaps as the basis for final borders, while the Palestinians would have to recognise Israel as a Jewish State and drop the demand for Palestinian refugees to return to Israel.
Haaretz reports that Netanyahu told the faction, “The reason why we’re willing to reach this agreement” is “because there are two million Palestinians” in the West Bank and “I don’t want a bi-national state.” Jerusalem Post said Netanyahu rejected calls from some Likud MKs to annex parts of the West Bank, commenting “I don’t want to control two million Palestinians and neither do most Israelis.” However, according to Haaretz, Netanyahu also indicated that he had raised the possibility with Kerry of retaining historically significant Jewish sites in the West Bank such as Hebron and Beit El in a final deal.
Opposition leader and Labour Party chair Isaac Herzog met with Kerry yesterday before he returned to Washington. Herzog commented, “I repeatedly said there is a Knesset majority in support of an agreement,” adding “This is an historical moment when a decision will have to be taken… Both leaders [Netanyahu and PA President Mahmoud Abbas] will have to decide if they can lead a brave, historical move.”
Meanwhile, former-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said yesterday in Jerusalem that “The entire Middle East landscape will change, as well as Israel’s standing in the region, if we’ll make peace with the Palestinians.” He also appeared to criticise Netanyahu, saying that a prime minister who chooses not to make peace is an “idiot.”