Middle East Update - March 8, 2010

Guardian / Joe Biden and George Mitchell arrive to kick-start Israeli-Palestinian talks:  Indirect negotiations mark first return to peace process since Gaza war by Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem - Sunday 7 March 2010 18.03 GMT George Mitchell meets Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem yesterday as he began a round of regional talks lasting four months.  The US vice-president, Joe Biden, is due in Israel tomorrow for an American diplomatic initiative to start indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.  The new round of so-called "proximity talks" could be announced as early as tomorrow, but there is scepticism on both sides about the chance of any agreement. George Mitchell, the US special envoy to the Middle East, will shuttle between Israeli and Palestinian leaders for four months hoping to find common ground. Although the talks are low-key, they mark the first return to a peace process since Israel's war in Gaza more than a year ago.  Read More. Arab American Institute / James Zogby, A Game Changing Act to Promote Peace - Monday March 8, 2010 Proximity talks between Palestinians, Israelis and U.S. negotiators will begin next week, but I’m not hopeful, in large measure because the parties have never been further apart and confidence in the U.S. has been diminished.  The Israelis have been up to no good: making provocative statements about keeping the Jordan Valley, staking their claim to sites in Hebron and Bethlehem, and tightening the noose around Jerusalem. At the same time, the Palestinian house remains deeply divided with reconciliation talks between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas stalled, and Hamas’s leadership participating in a defiant summit in Damascus with Iran and Hizbullah in attendance.  Meanwhile tensions are growing in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the West Bank as non-violent resistance to recent provocative acts by the occupation authorities is showing signs of giving way to more violent confrontations. Worse still, the deplorable conditions in Gaza, owing to the persistence of a suffocating blockade, continue to be ignored, as if what is happening to 40% of the Palestinian people doesn’t matter.  Read More. Al-Arabiya / Washington cautions Israel against striking Iran:  Israel welcomes Biden by Okaying new homes  & U.S. Vice President Biden will try to revive peace talks between Palestinians and Israeli- March 8, 2010 President Barack Obama's Vice President Joe Biden is expected to start a visit to the Middle East on Monday aiming mainly to build support for reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks despite deep skepticism on both sides, as Israel approved the building of 112 new settler homes in the West Bank.  Biden's visit comes as Yasser Abd Rabbo, a senior official in the Palestinian Liberation Organization, announced on Sunday that the Palestinians would embark on U.S.-mediated talks, despite deep skepticism about the prospects of success.  Israel, meanwhile, has given the green light for the building of 112 new homes in the Jewish Beitar Ilit settlement near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank despite a partial moratorium on such construction, Israel's Environment Minister Gilad Erdan told public radio on Monday.  Read More. Israel approves more construction in West Bank settlement: Approval to build 112 new flats in Beitar Illit comes despite Israeli government's partial curbs on settlement construction by Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem - Monday 8 March 2010 09.42 GMT The Israeli defence ministry today authorised further construction in a Jewish settlement on the occupied West Bank.  The decision came prior to the arrival in Israel of the US vice-president, Joe Biden, who is expected to announce a new round of indirect peace talks.  Approval for 112 new flats in Beitar Illit, an ultra-Orthodox settlement near Bethlehem, was given despite a 10-month partial curb on settlement construction announced by the Israeli government under heavy US pressure in November.  The decision to approve the building work appeared to be an attempt to appease members of Israel's rightwing coalition government. It was greeted with dismay by Palestinian officials.  George Mitchell, the US special envoy, has spent months attempting to get Israelis and Palestinians to restart negotiations, and was hoping a new round of indirect "proximity" talks would begin today.  Read More. Reuters / Biden to try to boost Middle East peace prospects By Adam Entous - Sunday, Mar 7, 9:10 pm ET President Barack Obama dispatched his vice president to the Middle East on Sunday to try to build support for reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks despite deep skepticism on both sides.  Iran is also a top issue for Israelis, many of whom see Obama's focus on diplomacy and targeted sanctions to curb Tehran's nuclear program as wishful thinking.  An Israeli cabinet minister, commenting on Joe Biden's visit, pointed to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's description of the September 11 attacks in the United States as a "big fabrication" as cause for concern.  An Israeli political source said Israel expected Biden's main message would be "Don't bomb Iran," a cautionary note Washington has sounded before in contacts with Israeli leaders.  Read More. Haaretz / Barak to Netanyahu: Don't miss this chance for peace By Avi Issacharoff - 22:32 07/03/2010 Defense Minister Ehud Barak declared Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have to "make some difficult decisions" in order to advance the Middle East peace process, urging the government not to miss out on this chance for a settlement.  The defense minister's remarks came hours after Netanyahu met with U.S. special Mideast envoy George Mitchell in Jerusalem, and as the Palestine Liberation Organization approved a proposal to launch indirect peace negotiations under U.S. moderation.   "I hope that these discussions will advance the political process with the Palestinians in a manner that will enable a quick resumption of actual negotiations on core issues that will result in an agreement," said Barak, who met over the weekend with Mitchell.  Read More. USA Today-AP / Palestinians approve indirect talks with Israel - March 7, 2010 RAMALLAH, West Bank -- A skeptical Palestinian leadership agreed Sunday to begin U.S.-mediated peace talks with Israel, effectively ending a 14-month breakdown in communications between the two sides.  Sunday's decision marks a first achievement for U.S. diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian arena.  The announcement was made as the U.S. mediator, George Mitchell, was meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel has welcomed the prospect of negotiations.  In coming months, Mitchell is expected to shuttle between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' headquarters in Ramallah and Netanyahu's office a half hour away in Jerusalem.  Sunday's decision by leading members of the Palestine Liberation Organization came a day before U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden begins the highest-level visit to the area by an Obama administration official.  Read More. The International News (Pakistan) / Syria mulls indirect talks with Israel - Monday, March 08, 2010 DAMASCUS: President Bashar al-Assad and visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday discussed the prospects of resuming indirect talks between Syria and Israel.    Their talks in Damascus focused on “the principles capable of relaunching the peace process” on the Syrian-Israeli track, which have been frozen for more than a year, Syria’s official SANA news agency said.     Davutoglu told Assad that Turkey — which has brokered indirect talks between Syria and Israel in the past — was willing “to go forwards to achieve peace,” SANA said. Read More.