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Kerry, Seeking to Nudge Along Peace Talks, Offers Netanyahu Security Proposal Kerry, Seeking to Nudge Along Peace Talks, Offers Netanyahu Ideas on Security
(about 11 hours later)
JERUSALEM — Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that he had provided Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel with “some thoughts” about security arrangements that could be put in place if Israel and the Palestinians negotiated a peace agreement. JERUSALEM — With little visible headway in the negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Secretary of State John Kerry sought on Thursday to advance the talks by providing American ideas about how to protect Israel’s security if an independent Palestinian state was established.
Mr. Kerry presented the ideas on security arrangements in the West Bank and in the Jordan Valley along with John R. Allen, a retired Marine general who was top commander in Afghanistan and is now advising the State Department on Middle East security issues. After a morning meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Mr. Kerry said that he had provided “some thoughts” about security arrangements that might be put into place if the two sides negotiated a peace agreement.
The briefing appears to signify a more active United States role in the talks, one in which American officials are not merely encouraging the Israelis and the Palestinians to negotiate but are also presenting their own proposals. Joining Mr. Kerry in outlining the ideas, which pertained to security arrangements in the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, was John R. Allen, the retired Marine general who served as the top American commander in Afghanistan and is now advising the secretary of state.
American officials appear to be calculating that progress on security arrangements will enable discussions on the difficult question of what the borders of a new Palestinian state should be and other fundamental issues. Mr. Kerry then headed to Ramallah to take up the security issues with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, before shuttling back to Jerusalem for yet another meeting with Mr. Netanyahu on Thursday evening.
But it was not clear if there was a meeting of American and Israeli minds on security issues. The presentation of the American ideas appear to underscore a more active United States role in the talks, one in which American officials are not merely encouraging the Israelis and the Palestinians to negotiate but are also outlining their own proposals.
With Mr. Netanyahu by his side, Mr. Kerry told reporters after his morning meeting that the United States accepted the principle that Israel should be able to “defend itself by itself.” American officials appear to be calculating that progress on security arrangements would facilitate discussions on what the borders of a new Palestinian state should be and other fundamental issues.
But neither Mr. Kerry nor other American officials have explained publicly what role, if any, the Israeli military might play in the Jordan Valley, the prime focus of security issues, if a peace treaty is agreed or how long its presence there would last. The need for progress has become all the more pressing because the negotiations have been going on for more than four months and Mr. Kerry has said that the goal is to reach a comprehensive accord in nine months.
After meeting with Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Kerry met in the West Bank city of Ramallah with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Kerry is scheduled to meet with Mr. Netanyahu again Thursday night and perhaps Friday morning. Yet the security issues are also thorny in their own right, arousing sensitivities on both sides. In Israel’s case, it is the principle of self-reliance, which holds that Israel must ultimately be responsible for its own security.
Though little detail has leaked out from the negotiations room, it is clear that security arrangements in the Jordan Valley are a major sticking point in talks on borders and security. Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted on maintaining a long-term Israeli military presence along the Jordan River and has dismissed the notion of reliance on international forces.
Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted on maintaining a long-term Israeli military presence along the Jordan River and has dismissed the notion of reliance on international forces. Mr. Abbas, who agreed to a third-party presence in the past, has stated that there will be no Israeli soldiers in a future Palestinian state. For the Palestinians, it is the principle of sovereignty, which holds that their independence would be compromised if Israeli troops were still deployed on their territory. Mr. Abbas, who agreed to a third-party presence in the past, has stated that there will be no Israeli soldiers in a future Palestinian state.
For decades, Israelis on the left and right viewed the eastern strip of the West Bank, which borders Jordan, as a crucial asset protecting Israel from threats from the east. While Mr. Kerry asserted that the two sides had made “some progress” in his discussions, he also acknowledged the differences. “There are questions of sovereignty, questions of respect and dignity which are obviously significant to the Palestinians,” Mr. Kerry said after his meeting with Mr. Abbas. “And for the Israelis, very serious questions of security and also of longer-term issues of how we end this conflict once and for all.”
With jagged slopes rising steeply from the valley floor, the corridor served as a natural buffer to detect and deter advancing forces. Yitzhak Rabin, in his final address to Parliament as Israeli prime minister before his assassination in November 1995, said the “security border” for defending the state of Israel would be “in the Jordan Valley, in the widest sense of that term.” For decades, Israelis on the left and right viewed the eastern strip of the West Bank that borders Jordan as a crucial asset, protecting Israel from threats from the east. With jagged slopes rising steeply from the valley floor, the corridor serves as a natural buffer to detect and deter advancing forces.
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, in his final address to Parliament before his assassination in November 1995, said that the “security border” for defending the state of Israel would be “in the Jordan Valley, in the widest sense of that term.”  
On Thursday, Mr. Netanyahu reiterated his position, saying that Israel was ready for a “historic peace,” but one “that Israel can and must be able to defend by itself with our own forces against any foreseeable threat.”On Thursday, Mr. Netanyahu reiterated his position, saying that Israel was ready for a “historic peace,” but one “that Israel can and must be able to defend by itself with our own forces against any foreseeable threat.”
But the radical changes of the last few years on the eastern front have made the Israeli demand to stay in the Jordan Valley all the more debatable — not only among Israel, its allies and the Palestinians but among Israelis themselves. But the radical changes of the last few years on the eastern front have made Israel’s demand to stay in the Jordan Valley all the more debatable — not only among Israel, its allies and the Palestinians, but also among Israelis themselves.
Critics of the Jordan Valley doctrine say the modern threat to Israel comes from rockets and missiles, making control of territory less important.Critics of the Jordan Valley doctrine say the modern threat to Israel comes from rockets and missiles, making control of territory less important.
But proponents of remaining in the Jordan Valley say the rise of robust insurgent forces in the area make it all the more essential for Israel to secure the eastern perimeter of a Palestinian state to prevent infiltrations and the smuggling of sophisticated weapons, like shoulder-fired missiles, into the West Bank. But proponents of remaining in the Jordan Valley say militant forces in the area make it essential for Israel to secure the eastern perimeter of a Palestinian state to prevent infiltrations and the smuggling of sophisticated weapons, like shoulder-fired missiles, into the West Bank.
In addition to discussing Middle East peace issues, Mr. Kerry sought again to assure Mr. Netanyahu and the Israeli public that the United States will ensure that Iran does not have a military nuclear program if a comprehensive agreement to limit Tehran’s nuclear efforts is reached. The issue has been complicated by differences over how to contain Iran’s nuclear program, as Israeli hard-liners have sought to make the case that American willingness to reach an interim deal with Iran means that the Obama administration cannot be trusted to ensure the security of a Middle East peace.
In their public comments today, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Netanyahu addressed each other warmly, though their differences on Iran policy were still apparent.
Mr. Kerry sought again to assure Mr. Netanyahu and the Israeli public that the United States would ensure that Iran did not have a military nuclear program if a comprehensive agreement to limit Tehran’s nuclear efforts was reached.
Mr. Netanyahu again sent his own message. “I think steps must be taken to prevent further erosions of sanctions,” he said.Mr. Netanyahu again sent his own message. “I think steps must be taken to prevent further erosions of sanctions,” he said.
Before Mr. Kerry arrived in Israel, senior State Department officials described the security briefing that he and General Allen planned to give as an “ongoing process” and not a finished product on which the United States was demanding a yes-or-no vote from Israel.
Saeb Erekat, the senior Palestinian negotiator, said that Mr. Kerry did not present anything in a final form during the meeting in Ramallah and that the discussions between the Palestinian and American sides would continue.
Mr. Kerry planned to meet again with Mr. Netanyahu on Friday morning before leaving for Washington. But Mr. Kerry, who has already made numerous trips to Israel as secretary of state, said that he might return in a week or so.