JERUSALEM Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be willing to renew peace talks with his Palestinian counterpart in an effort to stave off a Palestinian bid for UN- backed statehood.
The new negotiations would focus on a formula to set borders of an independent Palestinian state, Israeli officials told local media. They would also include Netanyahu's demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, a demand that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has so far rejected.
According to the report, the new push comes as Western leaders are concerned that a bid by the Palestinian to bring forward a UN resolution recognizing the West Bank, the Gaza strip and East Jerusalem as an independent nation may result in violence.
The Arab League is currently meeting in the Qatari capital Doha to finalize the details of the Palestinian resolution before handing it over to the UN. The meeting will focus on securing a majority vote in the General Assembly (GA) ahead of the vote, which is expected to take place in September.
While a GA-passed resolution is not binding, the Security Council's is. However, the United States, which holds veto power in the Security Council has indicated that it will block the resolution should it come to a vote.
Israeli and Palestinians analysts said that in the period leading up to the vote there would be a number of diplomatic initiatives to defer the Palestinian UN bid. However, mutual distrust may prevent any outreach from being taken seriously.
FUTURE BORDERS
The main sticking point for any negotiations on possible borders for a future independent Palestinian state are using the cease-fire lines prior to the 1967 as a starting point.
In that war, Israel captured the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem from Jordan, and Gaza from Egypt.
When U.S. President Barack Obama gave his Middle East policy speech in May, he suggested that the '67 lines be used as the basis for negotiations. But Netanyahu immediately rejected the proposal, arguing that it would leave Israel with "indefensible borders."
Netanyahu argued that a withdrawal to the pre '67 lines would leave Israel exposed to Palestinian rocket fire, as Israel would have to leave the hills overlooking the strategically vital Ben- Gurion International Airport, as well as the Jordan Valley, which runs along the border between the West Bank and Jordan.
Nevertheless, the Jerusalem Post on Monday reported that Netanyahu may now have changed his mind and is willing to talk about modified '67 lines, as a start.
NOT TOO LATE
Palestinian analyst Hani Masri told Xinhua that there is still time for diplomatic initiatives ahead of the UN vote, but if Netanyahu wants to be taken seriously by the Palestinians he needs to do more than just issue statements.
To show that he is serious, Masri suggested that Netanyahu halt construction in eastern Jerusalem as well as in Israeli settlements on the West Bank.
"It's a tactical maneuver and not a serious step, intended to stop the Palestinians going to the UN," Masri said, adding that " Netanyahu doesn't want peace and doesn't want to solve the problem, he wants to continue as is."
Masri argued that if Netanyahu had announced that he accepts ' 67 lines without any reservations, then maybe that would have convinced the Palestinians not to seek UN recognition. However, he doubted that it would happen and said that he doesn't believe that Netanyahu would make a complete turnaround.
Israeli media reported that Israeli President Shimon Peres, who holds a ceremonial position, was supposed to have met Abbas in the Jordanian capital Amman last week to discuss a possible renewal of negations.
Peres canceled the trip at the last minute, however, on Netanyahu's instructions, according to Masri.
LACK OF INTENT
Eytan Gilboa of Bar-Ilan University told Xinhua that it's Abbas who is uninterested in negotiations.
Gilboa cited Netanyahu's acceptance of a two-state solution in a 2009 speech and the unilateral ten-month freeze on settlement construction on the West Bank in 2010, meaning as Israeli good- faith gesture to jump-start talks, but spurned by Abbas.
"They want to circumvent negotiations by going to the UN," Gilboa said. "They want to force a solution on Israel, and therefore whatever Israel has been doing over the last two-three years didn't satisfy them."
He added that Netanyahu didn't suddenly have a change of heart. Rather, what happened was that two weeks ago "when the Quartet ( the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, Russia) met Netanyahu - under American pressure - the prime minister decided to adopt the U.S. position, and to accept 1967 borders with changes as a base for negotiations."
Netanyahu's remarks, according to Gilboa, is a sign that he is willing to be flexible on issues where he previously hadn't been, in order to reach an agreement.
"The ball is now with the Palestinians," Gilboa said.
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