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Israel

Good luck, Mr Kerry, the two sides remain divided

John Kerry has relaunched the peace process, but Israel and the Palestinians remain as far apart as ever

April 11, 2013 16:00
Violent protests erupted in Hebron last week after a Palestinian prisoner died of cancer while in an Israeli jail. Palestinians said he had not been given proper medical care (Photo: AP)

ByAnshel Pfeffer, Anshel Pfeffer

2 min read

American Secretary of State John Kerry sounded hopeful this week when he tried to relaunch the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians — but it seems that so far he has only succeeded in highlighting the distance between the two sides and major differences within the Israeli cabinet.

Mr Kerry, who was on a 48-hour visit to the region earlier this week to Jerusalem and Ramallah, where he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has been trying to capitalise on US President Barack Obama’s successful visit to Israel three weeks ago.

In an upbeat address to American diplomatic staff in Jerusalem, he said that while the Israel-Palestine conflict is “the biggest, the longest, the most complicated and the most vexing” of global conflicts, he would not be back for his “multiple-whatever-umpteenth trip” if he did not believe that America could bring the sides together and encourage them to find a peaceful resolution to their disputes.

In the absence of a foreign minister, there is no clear Israeli representative now leading the government’s diplomatic effort. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni has also been appointed to lead negotiations with the Palestinian Authority but she is to be accompanied in all her meetings by Mr Netanyahu’s personal representative and has no mandate to make any offers to the Palestinian side without the authorisation of a cabinet committee.