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Kerry’s Mideast Diplomacy Intensifies Kerry’s Mideast Diplomacy Intensifies
(about 5 hours later)
JERUSALEM — Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Israel on Friday afternoon for an intensive series of meetings with Israel’s leaders as the pace of discussions about reviving the Israel-Palestinian peace talks heated up. JERUSALEM — Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Israel on Friday for his second round of discussions with Israeli leaders in less than 24 hours as the pace of discussions about reviving the Israel-Palestinian peace talks heated up.
In what has become an exercise in shuttle diplomacy, Mr. Kerry began his day in Amman, Jordan, where he held a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority. A State Department official described that meeting, which included a lengthy one-on-one discussion, as “very constructive.” Mr. Kerry had a three-hour meeting here with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, which a senior State Department official described as a “detailed and substantive conversation about the way forward.”
Mr. Kerry then flew by Jordanian helicopter to Jerusalem, where he met Friday afternoon with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. Mr. Kerry met later with Shimon Peres, Israel’s president, and stayed for Sabbath dinner. In what has become an exercise in shuttle diplomacy, the State Department soon disclosed that the peripatetic Mr. Kerry would be heading back to Jordan on Saturday for still more discussions with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority. After meeting with Mr. Abbas in Amman, Mr. Kerry, who had been expected to go next to Brunei, will instead return again to Israel.
It was Mr. Kerry’s second visit to Israel in less than 24 hours. On Thursday, Mr. Kerry drove in a motorcade from Amman to Jerusalem, where he met for more than four hours with Mr. Netanyahu before driving back. Mr. Kerry has made clear that his goal is to make headway toward resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks well before September, when the United Nations General Assembly will once again debate the Middle East. And Mr. Kerry’s trip — his fifth to the region as secretary of state—has been imbued with a sense of urgency.
A State Department official described that meeting, which ended as 1:25 a.m., as “a productive, in-depth and wide-ranging conversation about the importance of moving forward on the peace process.” Despite the blitz of meetings, American officials have provided no details from Mr. Kerry’s discussions or an accounting of what issues still need to be resolved before peace negotiations might be restarted.
Mr. Kerry has made clear that his goal is to make headway toward resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks well before September when the United Nations General Assembly will once again debate the Middle East. Direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders were last held in 2010. Their resumption has been hampered by, among other issues, the Israeli rejection of Mr. Abbas’s demand that the Israelis freeze new settlement construction as a precondition; the gulf between the two sides over Israel’s insistence on maintaining a lengthy security presence on West Bank territory that is returned to the Palestinians, and the status of Jerusalem.
American officials have also stressed that the strategy is not just to begin new talks but to position the negotiations to make progress on core issues like borders and security arrangements for Israel on the West Bank that have proved to be formidable barriers in the past. American officials have emphasized that the strategy is not just to begin new talks but to position the negotiations so there can be progress on core issues that have proved formidable barriers in the past, like borders and security arrangements for Israel on the West Bank. Mr. Kerry has said little about the substance of his conversations with Israeli and Arab leaders, but it is clear that he is trying to sidestep a lengthy negotiation over preconditions for resuming talks and that there have been a lot of deliberations about how to jump-start the talks.
Direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders were last held in 2010. Their resumption has been hampered by the Israeli rejection of Mr. Abbas’s demand that the Israelis freeze new settlement construction as a precondition; the gulf between the two sides on Israel’s insistence on maintaining a lengthy security presence on West Bank territory that is returned to the Palestinians, and the status of Jerusalem, among other issues. The prospective Arab-Israeli peace negotiations were the subject of Mr. Kerry’s discussions on Tuesday with his Saudi counterpart in Jidda, Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Kerry has said little about the details of his discussions with Israeli and Arab leaders, but it is clear that he is trying to sidestep a lengthy negotiation over preconditions for resuming talks. On Thursday, Mr. Kerry met in Amman with King Abdullah II of Jordan, and other senior Jordanian officials. Later that day, he drove in a motorcade from Amman to Jerusalem, crossing the Allenby Bridge.
Mr. Kerry’s meeting on Friday with Mr. Netanyahu was held in the Yitzhak Rabin suite of the David Citadel Hotel. In Israel, he met for more than four hours with Mr. Netanyahu before driving back to Amman after the meeting ended at 1:25 a.m.
“So soon,” Mr. Kerry said with a smile as he shook hands with Mr. Netanyahu. On Friday, Mr. Kerry met in Amman for two and a half hours with Mr. Abbas. A State Department official described the meeting, which included a lengthy one-on-one discussion, as “very constructive.”

Jodi Rudoren contributed reporting.

Mr. Kerry then flew by Jordanian helicopter to Jerusalem to meet again with Mr. Netanyahu.
“So soon,” Mr. Kerry said with a smile as he shook hands with Mr. Netanyahu at the start of Friday’s meeting here. But his day was not over yet.
Mr. Kerry then proceeded to the residence of Israel’s president, Shimon Peres. Mr. Peres’ job is mainly ceremonial but he has connections with the Palestinian leadership and has been vocal in his support of Mr. Kerry’s efforts.
“All of us admire your investment in creating really the right environment,” Mr. Peres told Mr. Kerry at the start of their meeting.
“I know that it is difficult; there are many problems,” he said, adding that nonetheless there is “a great expectation that you will do it and that you can do it.”

Jodi Rudoren contributed reporting from Jerusalem.