Palestinian Officials are not Interested in Peace Talks with Netanyahu amid
Investigations

Kifah Ziboun Asharq Al-Awsat 14 August 2017
https://english.aawsat.com/kifah-ziboun/news-middle-east/palestinian-officia
ls-not-interested-peace-talks-netanyahu-amid-investigations

Ramallah- The Palestinian Authority (PA) is not interested in real peace
talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid corruption
investigations, according to a senior Palestinian official.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat
newspaper that the authority has no desire to begin the peace process with
Netanyahu as long as he is being investigated. He added that it seems that
things are out of his hands and it would be adventurous to enter into
extensive negotiations with him.

"We don't want the case of Olmert to repeat itself. We were on the verge of
an agreement and then he resigned," explained the official.

Few years ago, PA President Mahmoud Abbas was about to form a final
agreement with former PM Ehud Olmert, but then Olmert had to resign due to
corruption allegations. The deal included land swap, NATO troops deployment
into the Palestinian territories and handing over the West Bank.

The PA offered the same agreement to Netanyahu, but it was rejected by the
government.

US is pressuring both parties to return to negotiations, meanwhile
Palestinian fear their efforts and the US efforts be lost.

The official argued that in normal conditions, it had been difficult to
achieve an agreement with Netanyahu, adding: "How is it possible to achieve
a historical agreement while he is being investigated?

In recent updates, Netanyahu's former Chief of Staff Ari Harow could become
a state witness in the PM's cases of corruption and bribery.

Observers believe that Harow could provide damning evidence in at least one
of the three current cases under investigation: Case 1000, involving the
acceptance of gifts from a very wealthy friend, which Netanyahu and his wife
denied, Case 2000, involving collusion with Yediot Aharonot to get favorable
coverage; and Case 3000, involving the purchase of three submarines from
Germany.

This comes amid reports that US President Donald Trump will be sending a top
official delegation to the region to revive Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

A White House official said that Trump's son-in-law and top advisor Jared
Kushner will lead the delegation to the Middle East in order to promote
peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and will be joined by
Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt.

The official added that Trump is still committed to the peace process in the
Middle East and believes it is crucial to proceed with the efforts to
achieve peace.

Trump had previously stated that achieving a strong peace agreement between
Palestine and Israel is mission impossible, but he is optimistic that peace
can be attained.

The official added that in order for peace to be achieved, all involved
parties must work together and must give negotiators the time and place
needed.

Palestinians want to review and asses every agreement and set ground rules
for a new agreement limited by a time table, as well as negotiations on
border and ending settlements. Yet, Israel is not responding to any of those
requests and that, according to observers, is making the US's mission quite
difficult.