US expects no breakthrough in Mitchell visit
State Department lowers expectations on backdrop of reports that indirect talks between Israel and Palestinians will be declared before Obama's Mideast envoy leaves region. Mitchell meets with Palestinian President Abbas in Ramallah
"Are we expecting a breakthrough result of this visit? Probably not," said State Department Philip Crowley spokesman in response to a question from a journalist.
"The immediate objective is to bring (the Israelis and Palestinians) to a formal indirect dialogue, during which they will address the substance of things, and we hope to announce this in the near future," said Crowley, adding: "I doubt it will be this weekend."
Meanwhile, after hearing about Israel's good intentions but without reaching any real agreement, Mitchell arrived in Ramallah on Friday evening for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
According to Palestinian sources, Mitchell told his host that the US administration would continue investing many efforts in a bid to restart the peace process between the parties and support the policy of Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
Palestinian sources told Ynet that the Americans wish to have the parties declare the relauching of the negotiations within days, but noted that there were several difficulties and issues the Palestinians wanted clarifications about, particularly in terms of the settlement construction freeze and the need to define a clear timetable for the talks.
Mitchell and Abbas also discussed the possibility of resuming the talks without an Israeli declaration that the settlement construction freeze would be extended, which is one of the main Palestinian demands.
Peres: Israel's intentions serious
The American envoy arrived in Ramallah following a busy day in Israel. In the morning he met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv and in the afternoon he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. The two failed to reach any agreement and set another meeting for Sunday.
Sources in the Prime Minister's Office defined the meeting as "good and constructive" and said that Netanyahu was interested in receiving additional answers from the Palestinians.
Mitchell with Netanyahu. 'Must move forward' (Photo: GPO)
Netanyahu told Mitchell before the meeting, "I'm looking forward to working with you, and with President Obama, to advance peace. We are serious about it, we know you are serious about it, and we hope the Palestinians respond," he stressed. "We have to move this process forward. I look forward to working with you, with the Obama administration, to move peace forward."
Mitchell later met with President Shimon Peres, who told him that Israel "is committed to peace, and those who don't understand the seriousness of our intentions are ignoring reality."
Peres stressed that Israel was interested in peace. "If there are elements on the other side doubting our support for the two-state solution, I suggest that they take our statements seriously and take a look at the peace treaties we have already signed with Egypt and Jordan."
Before Mitchell's meetings in Israel, state officials in Jerusalem said they were optimistic in regards to the chance of launching the "proximity talks" between Israel and the Palestinians. According to estimates, a decision to relaunch the talks' will be declared before Mitchell leaves the region on Sunday.
The sources estimated that Israel would put on the table a number of gestures, including releasing prisoners, removing roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank and handing over security-related matters in certain areas to the Palestinian Authority.
Despite taking a cautious approach, the Palestinian Authority also estimated negotiations would be announced in the days to come and said the US demands put forth to the Israeli side were encouraging.
