Interesting that the Washington Post, in an interview with Ehud Barak, chose to portray the lack of direct negotiations in this manner:
U.S. Middle East envoy George J. Mitchell has been trying for months to broker a resumption of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Netanyahu has said he is willing to meet Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas directly; Abbas, skeptical of Netanyahu’s sincerity, reportedly told his party’s leadership last week that he wants more specific U.S. assurances before agreeing to direct talks.
That sounds familiar. Hm. Let’s look at a recent AP article:
The Palestinians are wary of entering open-ended negotiations with Israel’s hardline prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. They want Israel to first accept the principle of a Palestinian state in the lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast War, with some alterations.
Why, it’s almost as if there’s one narrative when it comes to writing about Israel.
Exit remark: Barak stated explicitly that the Lebanese government will bear the responsibility for rockets from Hezbollah fired at Israel. Countdown to condemnation in 3, 2, 1….
Update: And right on cue, the AP adds the narrative to its latest release on getting the Palestinians to agree to talks without preconditions:
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been reluctant to proceed from the current U.S.-mediated talks to direct negotiations. He is skeptical of Netanyahu’s commitment to peacemaking and wants more assurances from the U.S. that progress will be made.
Right. The Palestinians are refusing to conduct negotiations, but it’s the Israelis’ fault because the Palestinians think Netanyahu is insincere. Laughable.
The Dominican Republic has offered to help mediate negotiations between the Israeli government and the PA. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/190846
The benefit would be that perhaps Mitchell might be told to keep his biased trap shut and go back to spend time with the other paragon, Helen Thomas. The cost would be that the Israeli government would not have anyone to offer incentives. Another problem is that the meeting in Latin America that was the genesis of the offer “essentially endorsed the Arab peace plan calling for Israel to return to the borders before the Six-Day War of 1967 and establish a PA state in the territories that were liberated back then…” So these guys want no consequences for Syria, Jordan, or anyone else who started the wars in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973. Wonderful.
Perhaps 44 the treifnaïf, the beloved President of the World, might send Dr Berwick so that everyone would have someone to laugh at?