An international conference might be proposed should indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks fail. The US president has already contacted European leaders on the issue. Palestinian President Abbas might call on the United Nations to recognise officially a Palestinian state. Israel’s Netanyahu is set to meet Egypt’s Mubarak after winning a decisive victory against Likud’s hardliners.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – US President Barack Obama told European leaders that he might convene an international conference on the Middle East if Israeli-Palestinian talks remain stalemated into the fall, Israeli daily Haaretz reported, quoting government officials in Israel. This confirms similar stories that appeared recently in US media. One of the conference’s objectives would be the creation of a Palestinian state.

The Jerusalem Post is reporting today that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is going to ask the United Nations to recognise an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. The Palestinian leader appears to be planning to set aside talks with Israel in favour of UN recognition, and this independently of any possible peace treaty with Israel

Whatever the case may be, the two newspapers are signalling that something is moving in the region.

US Mideast envoy George Mitchell is getting ready for a new round of indirect talks between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a process recently backed by the foreign ministers of the Arab League.

Next Monday, Netanyahu will discuss ways to jumpstart the peace process with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is likely to demand some actual good will gesture.

Abbas is in Beijing today to boost Chinese support for the Palestinian cause.

If nothing else, Obama’s idea of an international conference will put more pressure on Israel. Should it happen, the summit should include the Quartet (United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia) and focus on the creation of a Palestinian state. Plans for the event should be ready by the end of the year.

For its part, Israel seems to be preparing some major step. This might explain Netanyahu’s drive to get a wide consensus in his party’s central committee on delaying an internal party vote. Seemingly procedural, the prime minister’s successful motion shows his determination to see how strong Likud’s extremist pro-settlement wing is.

In light of the key role played by Jewish settlements in the West bank and Jerusalem, it is also significant that Israel’s Interior Minister Eli Yishai has instructed the Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee to inform him of any plan to authorise construction that the US administration might deem diplomatically sensitive.

• israel
• palestine
• united
• states
• obama
• international
• conference
• palestinian
• state
• settlements
• united
• nations
• quarter
• peace
• process