Head to head - and agreement within a year?
Photo: Reuters
Netanyahu: Agreement possible within year
Prime minister counters Foreign Minister Lieberman's pessimism, tells visiting Democratic congress members talks only way to reach agreement; Netanyahu also expresses hopes that PA's Abbas won't abandon path of peace
His foreign minister may think peace cannot be achieved - "not next year and not in the next generation" - but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that peace can be reached within 12 months.
During a meeting with Democratic members of Congress Monday, Netanyahu said he hopes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will not choose to abandon the path of peace. He added that he believes peace can be reached within a year – just a day after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman laid out his vision and said peace is unattainable.
The prime minister noted many issues had not been agreed on, but said the only way to reach agreement was via direct and ongoing negotiations.
Abbas, however, was pessimistic about the talks. During a meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, the Palestinian president threatened that if he was pressed into making concessions on the pre-1967 borders (the "Green Line"), the refugee issue and other issues, he would quit the negotiations.
Abbas, who has meanwhile continued on to Tunisia and spoken with President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, reiterated he would not agree to give up on any of the core issues. Syrian President Bashar Assad, who met Jordan's King Abdullah on Monday, was also updated on progress in the talks.
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