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| Peres Says Israelis Must Overcome Skepticism About Peace | Peres Says Israelis Must Overcome Skepticism About Peace |
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| DEAD SEA, Jordan — President Shimon Peres of Israel said Sunday that there was an urgent need for peace with the Palestinians and that Israelis “have to overcome skepticism and doubt” to end the long conflict by establishing “two states for two peoples.” | DEAD SEA, Jordan — President Shimon Peres of Israel said Sunday that there was an urgent need for peace with the Palestinians and that Israelis “have to overcome skepticism and doubt” to end the long conflict by establishing “two states for two peoples.” |
| “We shouldn’t be cynical,” Mr. Peres, an advocate of the two-state solution, said as he arrived for a conference of the World Economic Forum. “We shouldn’t lose the opportunity because it will be replaced by a great disappointment.” | “We shouldn’t be cynical,” Mr. Peres, an advocate of the two-state solution, said as he arrived for a conference of the World Economic Forum. “We shouldn’t lose the opportunity because it will be replaced by a great disappointment.” |
| Mr. Peres is scheduled to speak Sunday evening alongside Secretary of State John Kerry, who planned to present highlights of an economic initiative for the Palestinian territories after two months of an intense effort to revive the peace process that included four visits to the region. Mr. Kerry has said that he hopes to pursue economic and political tracks in parallel, reigniting peace talks while developing agricultural, tourism and technology businesses in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Many Israeli and Palestinian leaders who are dubious about the prospect of negotiations have been waiting to hear details of the economic proposals. | Mr. Peres is scheduled to speak Sunday evening alongside Secretary of State John Kerry, who planned to present highlights of an economic initiative for the Palestinian territories after two months of an intense effort to revive the peace process that included four visits to the region. Mr. Kerry has said that he hopes to pursue economic and political tracks in parallel, reigniting peace talks while developing agricultural, tourism and technology businesses in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Many Israeli and Palestinian leaders who are dubious about the prospect of negotiations have been waiting to hear details of the economic proposals. |
| President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and King Abdullah II of Jordan are also expected to attend the session, before which a group of some 300 Israeli and Palestinian business leaders plan to issue their own call for a resumption of negotiations. | President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and King Abdullah II of Jordan are also expected to attend the session, before which a group of some 300 Israeli and Palestinian business leaders plan to issue their own call for a resumption of negotiations. |
| Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said Mr. Peres “should focus on one thing — convincing his prime minister,” Benjamin Netanyahu, of the need for a two-state solution along the pre-1967 borders. | Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said Mr. Peres “should focus on one thing — convincing his prime minister,” Benjamin Netanyahu, of the need for a two-state solution along the pre-1967 borders. |
| “He has no problem with Jordan, Palestinians, Egypt, Europeans, Americans — everyone is convinced that the solution is two states on 1967,” Mr. Erekat said. “The only one who needs to be convinced, and I urge Mr. Peres to exert every possible effort to convince him, is the prime minister of Israel saying he accepts two states on 1967.” | “He has no problem with Jordan, Palestinians, Egypt, Europeans, Americans — everyone is convinced that the solution is two states on 1967,” Mr. Erekat said. “The only one who needs to be convinced, and I urge Mr. Peres to exert every possible effort to convince him, is the prime minister of Israel saying he accepts two states on 1967.” |
| “He needs to say it,” Mr. Erekat added. | “He needs to say it,” Mr. Erekat added. |
| Mr. Netanyahu has said that he supported the two states idea, but has described the Palestinians’ insistence that negotiations begin with the 1967 borders as an unacceptable precondition. Mr. Peres, whose role as president is largely ceremonial, met for two hours on Friday with Mr. Netanyahu to “coordinate” the Jordan trip, according to his aides. Mr. Netanyahu also met last week with others attending the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa, which drew some 800 people from 60 countries, including 70 government ministers. | Mr. Netanyahu has said that he supported the two states idea, but has described the Palestinians’ insistence that negotiations begin with the 1967 borders as an unacceptable precondition. Mr. Peres, whose role as president is largely ceremonial, met for two hours on Friday with Mr. Netanyahu to “coordinate” the Jordan trip, according to his aides. Mr. Netanyahu also met last week with others attending the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa, which drew some 800 people from 60 countries, including 70 government ministers. |
| Yuval Steinitz, a senior minister in Mr. Netanyahu’s cabinet, played down the significance of Mr. Peres’s comments. “With all due respect for the place of the president,” Mr. Steinitz said, “diplomatic decisions are made by the government.” | |
| President Peres had arrived by helicopter hours earlier, and scores of journalists crowded in a lobby of the King Hussein Convention Center on the picturesque edge of the Dead Sea to chronicle his brief statement. | President Peres had arrived by helicopter hours earlier, and scores of journalists crowded in a lobby of the King Hussein Convention Center on the picturesque edge of the Dead Sea to chronicle his brief statement. |
| “As far as the Palestinians are concerned we have a functioning beginning and an agreed solution,” President Peres, 89, said in a soft voice. “The solution is the two-state solution – living in peace and dignity. I am aware of the missing links residing between the two ends. From my experience I believe it is possible to overcome them. | “As far as the Palestinians are concerned we have a functioning beginning and an agreed solution,” President Peres, 89, said in a soft voice. “The solution is the two-state solution – living in peace and dignity. I am aware of the missing links residing between the two ends. From my experience I believe it is possible to overcome them. |
| “It doesn’t require too much time,” he said. “It is the real interest of all parties concerned. This is an important opportunity to reiterate our will, not to waste time and to return to negotiations and complete the peace process with the Palestinians based on two states for two peoples – an Israeli state and a Palestinian state living as good neighbors and cooperating economically for the good of future generations.” | “It doesn’t require too much time,” he said. “It is the real interest of all parties concerned. This is an important opportunity to reiterate our will, not to waste time and to return to negotiations and complete the peace process with the Palestinians based on two states for two peoples – an Israeli state and a Palestinian state living as good neighbors and cooperating economically for the good of future generations.” |