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| Kerry detours to Middle East to try to rescue peace talks | Kerry detours to Middle East to try to rescue peace talks |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| JERUSALEM — Secretary of State John F. Kerry is making an emergency visit to the Mideast on Monday to try to keep U.S.-backed peace talks from collapse. | JERUSALEM — Secretary of State John F. Kerry is making an emergency visit to the Mideast on Monday to try to keep U.S.-backed peace talks from collapse. |
| Kerry, accompanied by U.S. mediator Martin Indyk, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately after arriving here and planned to see Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank later Monday night. | Kerry, accompanied by U.S. mediator Martin Indyk, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately after arriving here and planned to see Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank later Monday night. |
| “Secretary Kerry decided it would be productive to return to the region,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. | “Secretary Kerry decided it would be productive to return to the region,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. |
| It was clear that talks Kerry launched with difficulty eight months ago are in crisis. | It was clear that talks Kerry launched with difficulty eight months ago are in crisis. |
| “Israelis and Palestinians have both made tough choices, and as we work with them to determine the next steps, it is important they remember that only peace will bring the Israeli and Palestinian people both the security and economic prosperity they all deserve,” Psaki said. | “Israelis and Palestinians have both made tough choices, and as we work with them to determine the next steps, it is important they remember that only peace will bring the Israeli and Palestinian people both the security and economic prosperity they all deserve,” Psaki said. |
| Netanyahu has refused to carry out an overdue release of some two dozen Palestinian prisoners, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to walk out with a month to go before Kerry’s deadline for an outline of a peace deal. | Netanyahu has refused to carry out an overdue release of some two dozen Palestinian prisoners, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to walk out with a month to go before Kerry’s deadline for an outline of a peace deal. |
| Netanyahu told his Likud party Sunday that he will not allow the release unless Palestinians agree to extend talks and warned he would refuse to do it at all unless assured the release would be in Israel’s interest. | Netanyahu told his Likud party Sunday that he will not allow the release unless Palestinians agree to extend talks and warned he would refuse to do it at all unless assured the release would be in Israel’s interest. |
| Over the weekend, reports circulated in the Hebrew and Arabic press that Netanyahu was prepared to offer to free an additional 400 prisoners, including many young offenders and those sentenced to short terms, if the Palestinians would continue the talks. | |
| The goal of Kerry’s visit is to find a face-saving way to keep the peace talks going, whether or not the prisoners are released soon. He would not predict the outcome of his efforts ahead of talks. | |
| “It’s really a question between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and what Prime Minister Netanyahu is prepared to do,” Kerry said Sunday night in Paris. “He’s working diligently, I know.” | |
| Kerry was in Paris over the weekend for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over the crisis in Ukraine. | |
| Officials close to Israel’s hard-line economics minister, Naftali Bennett, said that the plan Kerry has advanced until now “would lead to the dismantling of the current coalition government in Israel.” | |
| Housing Minister Uri Ariel, a member of Bennett’s Jewish Home party, said he will advise his party to leave the coalition if more prisoners are freed. | |
| The Palestinian prisoners are a highly emotional issue for both sides. Israelis say their government is freeing murderers in order to make peace. The Palestinians view the prisoners as heroes — freedom fighters who served long prison sentences in Israeli jails essentially as POWs. | |
| Separately Monday, Israeli lawmaker Isaac Herzog, who as head of the Labor Party leads the parliamentary opposition, traveled to the Jordanian capital, Amman, and met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II. | |
| “There is a one-time opportunity to reach an agreement in the Middle East, and we must find the formula that doesn’t blow up the negotiations,” the monarch told Herzog, according to a statement from Herzog’s office. | “There is a one-time opportunity to reach an agreement in the Middle East, and we must find the formula that doesn’t blow up the negotiations,” the monarch told Herzog, according to a statement from Herzog’s office. |
| Herzog told Abdullah that his party and most of the opposition recognize the need to reach peace. Herzog has said that if Netanyahu’s coalition falls apart over the prisoner releases or the peace negotiations, the Labor Party would be ready to join the government under Netanyahu. | Herzog told Abdullah that his party and most of the opposition recognize the need to reach peace. Herzog has said that if Netanyahu’s coalition falls apart over the prisoner releases or the peace negotiations, the Labor Party would be ready to join the government under Netanyahu. |