Kerry: New Israeli-Palestinian talks in the works

Good evening, everybody, thank you very much for your patience. I apologize for the delay. I’m just going to make a statement, and I’m not going to take any questions at this point in time.

On behalf of President Obama, I am pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming direct final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis. This is a significant and welcome step forward.

The agreement is still in the process of being formalized, so we are absolutely not going to talk about any of the elements now. Any speculation or reports you may read in the media or elsewhere or here in the press are conjecture. They are not based on fact because the people who know the facts are not talking about them. The parties have agreed that I will be the only one making further comments about this.

If everything goes as expected, Saeb Erekat and Tzipi Livni, Minister Livni, and Isaac Molho will be joining me in Washington to begin initial talks within the next week or so, and a further announcement will be made by all of us at that time.

I want to thank particularly His Majesty King Abdullah and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and the Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, who has been really enormously helpful throughout this process. I want to thank all of them for their extraordinary hospitality to our team that has been camped here for several days, and they have helped with all of the logistics and been superb hosts and collaborators in this effort.

I also want to thank the Arab League and the committee, the joint committee – the committee with respect to the peace initiative follow-on — who traveled here during the week and who made an important difference with their statement of support.

And then there are many, many others who have contributed, many other leaders around the world, all of whom have visited here and pushed and advocated and encouraged the notion that these talks could take place. There are too many to list, but they know who they are and we are very, very grateful. It will take their ongoing effort in order to be able to have any chance of making these talks the kind of success they ought to be.

I think all of us know that candid, private conversations are the very best way to preserve the time and the space for progress and understanding when you face difficult, complicated issues such as Middle East peace. The best way to give these negotiations a chance is to keep them private. Everyone knows that this is not easy. If it were, it would’ve happened a long time ago. And no one believes that the longstanding differences between the parties can be resolved overnight or just wiped away.

We know that the challenges require some very tough choices in the days ahead. Today, however, I am hopeful. I’m hopeful because of the courageous leadership shown by President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Both of them have chosen to make difficult choices here, and both of them were instrumental in pushing in this direction. We wouldn’t be standing here tonight if they hadn’t made the choices.

I’m most hopeful because of the positive steps that Israelis themselves and Palestinians are taking on the ground and the promise that those steps represent about the possibilities of the future. The path to resolution of this longstanding conflict in this critical corner of the world, that path is not about fate. It’s about choices, choices that people can make. And this is not up to chance. It’s up to the Israeli people and the Palestinian people and no one else.

So knowing that the road ahead will be difficult and the challenges that the parties face are daunting, we will call on everybody to act in the best of faith and push forward. The representatives of two proud people today have decided that the difficult road ahead is worth traveling and that the daunting challenges that we face are worth tackling. So they have courageously recognized that in order for Israelis and Palestinians to live together side by side in peace and security, they must begin by sitting at the table together in direct talks.

I thank those leaders. I thank all those who have worked so hard, my team especially, who have been part of this. And I look forward to seeing my friends from this region in Washington next week or very soon thereafter. Thank you very much.

Preceding provided by the U.S. State Department

Following are statements in reaction to Secretary Kerry’s announcement.  They are reprinted in the order received.

Jeremy Ben Ami, President, J Street: 

Secretary of State John Kerry’s tireless efforts to resume Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations have created an historic opportunity which must not be missed.

J Street congratulates Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on their decision to resume talks and urges them to come to the negotiating table with a serious and solemn intent to make the compromises necessary to achieve peace based on a two-state solution.

Secretary Kerry deserves the recognition of the entire world for his determination and creativity in achieving this breakthrough. We are confident he will remain fully engaged as the parties get down to negotiating. We thank President Obama for making this issue a top foreign policy priority of his second term.

We call on Congress and American Jews to get fully behind this peace effort to give the parties the support they need to make the tough decisions necessary to resolve their conflict.

Achieving a two-state solution is a vital US national security interest and would inject much-needed stability into an increasingly unstable region. It would deal a setback to extremists and terrorists around the world who have exploited this conflict to mobilize support for their violent methods.

Such an agreement is also the only way to secure Israel’s future as both a democracy and a Jewish homeland and would provide Palestinians with a vehicle in which to fulfill their self-determination and national aspirations.

We know that difficult days lie ahead but we are convinced that with persistence, creative mediation and international support, a deal is within reach.

Vocal minorities on both sides can be expected to oppose the negotiations going forward but must not be allowed to frustrate the desire of clear majorities of Israelis and Palestinians for a two-state solution to end this conflict.

I look forward to working with you in the days and weeks ahead to support these important developments.

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Americans for Peace Now:  With a great deal of hope, Americans for Peace Now (APN) enthusiastically welcomes the forthcoming resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. APN applauds Secretary of State John Kerry for his tenacious efforts to achieve this diplomatic breakthrough. APN calls on the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate in earnest and expeditiously toward the goal of achieving a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

APN calls on all other stakeholders in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to support Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. That includes the Arab world, the Israeli and Palestinian publics and the American public. APN, a pro-Israel pro-peace Jewish organization, particularly calls on fellow American Jews and the organized Jewish community to support the new peace effort and heed Secretary Kerry’s call on them to be a part of the “great constituency for Peace.”

APN’s President and CEO Debra DeLee said:  “This is a pivotal moment, a moment of truth. It’s a moment of truth for the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians, a moment of truth for anyone who cares about Israel’s future as a democracy and a Jewish state, and a moment of truth for those who support the Palestinians’ aspirations for sovereignty and independence. This is a time for those who know how important Israeli-Palestinian peace is for America’s national security to commit their full support for Secretary Kerry’s tireless efforts and to let the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians know that they will stand behind them if they boldly and earnestly lead toward peace.

“The parties, Israelis and Palestinians alike, must now demonstrate that they are serious about negotiations and serious about peace by refraining from inflammatory actions and rhetoric. Israel must stop settlement activity. Palestinians must do their utmost to maintain security, to actively oppose violence and to refrain from incitement. As we have seen before, peace negotiations that take place in an environment that is antithetical to peace are all but doomed to fail.

“We at APN, America’s sister-organization of Israel’s peace movement, Shalom Achshav, pledge to support our leaders and any leaders who seriously work to bring to Israelis and Palestinians the peace and security that they so want and deserve.”

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Anti-Defamation League:  The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today cautiously welcomed Secretary of State John Kerry’s announcement of a renewal of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.  Barry Curtiss-Lusher, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:  We welcome the news that Secretary of State Kerry has secured an agreement on the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.  Secretary Kerry’s intensive, determined and hands-on efforts to bring the parties to the table without preconditions are commendable. We believe that this is a moment of ripeness and are gratified that the Palestinian Authority has agreed to return to the negotiation table to engage in good faith, constructive talks with the Israeli government.  We are hopeful that the upcoming talks will bring Israelis and Palestinians closer to their shared vision of two states living side by side in peace and security.

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Jewish Council for Public Affairs: The Jewish Council for Public Affairs today welcomed the announced resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and congratulated Secretary of State John Kerry for his part in bringing the two sides together.  “This is an opportunity that for the past two years has been extremely elusive,” said JCPA Chair Larry Gold. “It grows out of the recognition that peace and security, prosperity and independence, cannot be reached by any path other than direct negotiations between Israel and Palestinians. We have no illusions about the difficulties ahead. The issues that must be resolved are profound.  But the status quo is unacceptable. Israel’s future as a secure and democratic nation state of the Jewish people cannot be fully preserved without establishment of a stable, viable, and independent State of Palestine. We encourage both sides to show the courage, flexibility and persistence necessary for these talks to be successful.”

“This is a great achievement for Secretary of State Kerry who invested so much time and diplomatic effort in finally bringing Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table,” said JCPA President Rabbi Steve Gutow. “Last week, we and the American Task Force for Palestine joined together in Washington, DC to meet with members of the administration and leaders in Congress to express our support for this effort and for a negotiated peace. Two states for two peoples cannot be achieved without strong U.S. leadership, and we are thankful to Secretary Kerry and President Obama for their leadership.  But the hard work is just beginning. As we move forward, we urge all who want peace to support these negotiations and to encourage reconciliation, not division.”

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Preceding culled from news releases sent by the above-named organizations.