Peace talk remains a hard nut to crack in Washington

JERUSALEM, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Although Israelis and the Palestinians agreed to get back to the negotiation table, the chance for the two sides to reach some substantial accordance is not optimistic.

"Although there was recognition between the two sides to resume negotiations, there are still the issues of Jerusalem and the 1967 borders. And I don't see with the gaps being so wide how to overcome these," Prof. Eyal Zisser of Tel Aviv University told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Zisser was referring to the issue of the final status of Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians see as their capital, and the issue that the Palestinians demand Israel recognize the ceasefire lines prior to the 1967 War as the basis for the borders of a future Palestinian state.

Dr. Shmuel Bar of the Interdisciplinary-Center in Herzliya was even more pessimistic, saying that the talks in Washington are " somewhat of a farce."

PRECONDITIONS ON PEACE TALKS

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who set out to restart the peace talks, faced a number of obstacles that have been holding up the negotiations since 2010 when the talks were stopped over a dispute on Jewish settlement activities.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas demanded Israel reinstate the freeze on the settlement construction from 2009-2010, which was rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On the other hand, Netanyahu demanded Abbas recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, which was also rejected by Abbas.

On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet voted to release 104 Palestinian prisoners, who have been in Israeli jail since before 1993 when the Oslo process began, but there was no Palestinian gesture, which according to Dr. Bar, only adds to the notion that the talk will yield little.

Prof. Zisser said although Israel offered the Palestinians between 94-96 percent of the West Bank during the past 20 years' peace talks since the Oslo agreement was signed in Washington, "at the last moment they didn't have the courage to conclude an agreement."

Even if there is an agreement on some kind reached in Washington, it then need to be approved back in Jerusalem and Ramallah. While the Oslo agreement was approved by the Israeli Knesset, any future agreement will be approved or rejected in a referendum in Israel, which hence added a potential stumbling block for a peace deal.

For his part, Abbas has made a call for a similar referendum, but due to the internal division among the Palestinians, it would only be held in the West Bank if there is a referendum.

U.S. INFLUENCE

While there is little doubt that peace talks would not be resumed without Kerry's efforts, Bar argued that the negotiations are "just a show in order not to make Kerry to be portrayed as having wasted his time."

He said that "they will have a few dinners together. They will have some discussions, but absolutely nothing will come out of it. "

Zisser, on the other hand, said "it's in the interest of both Israelis and Palestinians. For Netanyahu, there is also internal pressure in Israel to make peace."

He added that Netanyahu understands that it's important to achieve some progress and that the Palestinians also feel much stronger after what happened in Egypt, but all in all the question is whether it will be enough to bring them into an agreement."

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