BICOM

An account of secret peace talks given by Israel’s President Shimon Peres have been disputed by officials in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In an interview with Channel Two broadcast yesterday evening, Israel’s President Shimon Peres claimed that he had personally reached a draft peace agreement with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas three years ago.

Peres said that during a series of secret meetings in Jordan in 2011, he and Abbas had “reached an understanding on nearly all the points.” According to Peres, “He [Abbas] was supposed to agree [to recognize] a Jewish state and we were supposed to agree to recognize [a future] Palestinian state.” Abbas’ persistent refusal to recognize Israel as a characteristically Jewish state was a serious sticking point during the peace talks which took place between July 2013 and last month.

Peres also said that, “Instead of talking about the ’67 borders, we spoke about the size of the area, not its borders. Which enables the exchange of territories with entities, the establishment of settlement blocs … and to this he agreed.” In addition, Abbas also apparently agreed “that the refugee problem would be solved in just and agreed-upon manner.”

Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, made clear that his talks with Abbas were conducted with the full knowledge and approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said, “The settlement we reached was accepted by the prime minister… The prime minister was a partner to every step of the way.” However, Peres claimed that when both sides were ready to summarize the talks, the opportunity passed after Netanyahu asked Peres to hold off for several days. According to Peres, Netanyahu “had the impression that there was a better offer brought in by Tony Blair,” the Quartet’s Middle East envoy. In mid-2011 Blair was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to secure agreed terms of reference for the renewal of peace talks, whilst the Palestinians were preparing to apply for full-membership of the United Nations.

An anonymous source in the Prime Minister’s Office denied Peres’ account of events, saying that Abbas “did not agree to anything. This time around as well, all he wanted was to receive and give nothing in return.” In reference to the recent Fatah-Hamas unity pact, the source added, “The only agreement [Abbas reached] was with Hamas.” Yaakov Amidror, who was Netanyahu’s National Security Advisor in 2011, also disputed Peres’s account in an  interview given to Israeli Army Radio this morning.