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August 31, 2010

Peace talks hopeful with regular meeting pledge

The Norman Transcript

NORMAN — One of the reasons some peace talks succeed while others fail is the follow-up or lack of it.

Just after the agreements are signed and the planes leave, the participants say what they really meant to say but waited until they got home to unload.

We’re hoping that’s not the case this time around. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas every two weeks after the U.S.-brokered negotiations re-open Thursday.

U.S. special envoy George Mitchell has been shuttling back and forth between the two sides for several months before the talks were publicly announced.

The two sides were talking two years ago when Israel launched a three-week military offensive against Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip. It was in retaliation for the near-daily rocket attacks into southern Israel.

The Associated Press reports those 2008 talks were close to an agreement before the shooting started and talks quickly deteriorated. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had met on a regular basis.

Palestinian authorities were reluctant to return to the negotiating table this time around. They fear they will be blamed if talks break down. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing for talks ever since he took office in 2009.

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