BICOM

US President Barack Obama is poised to increase his personal backing for US Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace efforts, particularly Kerry’s framework plan for final status talks.

Obama has until now allowed Kerry to take the lead in facilitating peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), which resumed in July. Although few details have been released about the substance of the talks, little significant progress appears to have been made. Kerry is expected in the coming weeks to present both sides with a framework plan for final status talks, which he hopes will allow for negotiations to be extended beyond their original end of April deadline.

In advance of this, the New York Times says President Obama will personally encourage both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PA President Mahmoud Abbas to accept the terms of Kerry’s framework plan. Obama will host Netanyahu at the White House next week and is also expected to meet Abbas during the coming month. The report quotes an unnamed US official, who commented, “Now is a very timely opportunity for him [Obama] to get involved,” to help secure the extension of talks. The same official explained, “The president wouldn’t want to run any risk that it was the lack of his involvement that would make the difference between success and failure.”

The exact details of Kerry’s framework plan remain under wraps. However, it is expected to present a US view of how gaps on each of the core issues can be closed, including on borders, settlements, security, Jerusalem, refugees, mutual recognition, and an end to all claims. A report in Arabic daily Al Quds claims that Abbas was incensed during a meeting with Kerry in Paris last week by some of the terms of the framework plan, calling it “insanity.”