Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Israeli, Palestinian Negotiators To Reconvene

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met face to face for the first time in more than a year and agreed to meet again.

Yitzhak Molcho, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal envoy to the negotiations with the Palestinians, and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat held a meeting Tuesday in Amman, Jordan, with representatives of the Mideast Quartet.

Molcho, an attorney, and Erekat also met with Jordan’s foreign minister, Nasser Judeh. They were to discuss issues such as borders and security, The Associated Press reported.

No statements were issued at the end of the meetings, but the sides reportedly agreed to meet again next week again in Jordan.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday in Ramallah before the start of the Amman meeting that if Israel does not meet his conditions, “we will take new measures.” He said the measures could be “difficult.”

Erekat reportedly told journalists Monday that there will be no progress in the talks unless Israel agrees to halt construction in settlements in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, and agree to the 1967 lines as the border of a Palestinian state. Israel has called for negotiations to resume without preconditions.

The Quartet has set a Jan. 26 deadline for the resumption of direct negotiations. The Palestinians also have called for Israel to meet its conditions and resume negotiations by Jan. 26.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.