Tribulation Watch: Kerry announces renewal of direct peace negotiations

End Of Days News

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.

Read More: http://www.timesofisrael.com/kerry-announces-renewal-of-direct-peace-negotiations/

Well they did, didn't they?

Jewish group says EU ‘legtimized terror’

 

JTA — A European Jewish group has accused the European Union of “legitimizing terrorism” by singling Israel out for criticism.

 

The accusation came in an open letter by the chairmen of the Brussels-based European Jewish Parliament sent on Wednesday to the presidents of the European Council and other EU institutions.

 

The letter was in response to the EU’s condemnation on Dec. 11 of Israeli policies vis-à-vis the Palestinian Authority.

 

“We regret the one-sided statement which does not serve peace initiatives, but only strengthens the ambitions of terrorist organizations,” the letter by Joel Rubinfeld and Vadim Rabinovitch read. The EU statement “provides legitimization for terrorist acts” by “condemning the actions of the only real democracy in the Middle East.”

 

The letter noted Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal’s recent calls for Israel’s destruction.

 

The EU’s condemnation urged Israel not to freeze the Palestinian Authority’s funds; to cancel planned construction in the West Bank, and called on the Palestinians to “use constructively” their newly gained non-member state observer status at the United Nations.

 

On Dec. 11, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman also harshly criticized some of his European counterparts, accusing them of intentionally ignoring calls for Israel’s destruction.

 

“In the eyes of some European foreign ministers, the destruction of Israel is a given,” he said. He then mentioned Europe’s failure to address the threat against Jews prior to the Holocaust.

 

“The Europeans decided to pressure our side alone and ignore the terror organizations on the Palestinian side,” he added.

 

http://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-group-says-eu-legtimized-terror/