On sixth visit to region, US secretary of state says ‘difficult road ahead is worth travelling’; sides expected in Washington next week
“We have reached an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming negotiations. This is a significant and welcome step forward,” said Kerry at a press conference in Amman.
“We know that challenges lay ahead. Both sides understand that the dfficult road ahead is worth travelling. They have courageously recognized that in order to live side by side, they must begin by sitting together in direct talks,” said Kerry.
“I look forward to seeing my friends from this region in Washington next week” or shortly after, he added.
Kerry was back in Amman Friday evening after meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah earlier, where he was a guest at the Iftar meal with the Palestinian leader in the West Bank city.
“Mr. President, you should look happy,” a cheerful-looking Kerry said to Abbas in front of reporters as they sat before the closed-door talks began.
Kerry stepped up his drive Friday to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table, facing Palestinian reluctance over his formula for resuming peace talks after nearly five years.
Kerry held more than 90 minutes of talks Friday morning with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, a US official said.
At a stormy late-night meeting of their leadership Thursday, Palestinians balked at dropping a main condition for talks with the Israelis. They demand a guarantee that negotiations on borders between a Palestinian state and Israel would be based on the cease-fire line that held from 1949 until the 1967 war, when Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
