"We expect (US President Barack) Obama to take advantage of the meeting with (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas to press Israel on the settlement issue," a senior Palestinian official told Ynet Tuesday, just hours before the Israeli, Palestinian and American leaders were scheduled to convene in New York.
The official called on Obama to try and convince Israel to halt all settlement activity in the West Bank "so that his plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state within two years will not remain on paper alone."
According to the official, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Washington agreed not to let Netanyahu use the fact that Gaza is ruled by Hamas as "an excuse."
"The issue of Gaza weakens (the PA's) position, but at this stage we are only discussing the West Bank (which is under PA control)," said the Palestinian official.
"From a security standpoint, the Americans realize that the PA is prepared to assume responsibilities on the ground," he added, "The trust-building measures are supposed to include not only Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank but also the transfer of security-related responsibilities to the PA."
The Palestinians are also expected to demand that an Israeli settlement freeze not be dependent on Arab measures towards the normalization of ties with the Jewish state.
"We are not opposed to an improvement in the relations between Israel and the Arab world, but this should not come at the expense of the Palestinians, and it certainly should not be a prerequisite to the launching of serious negotiations that will eventually lead to a settlement freeze and the establishment of a
Palestinian state within the June 4, 1967 borders," said the official.
The official stressed that the trilateral summit in New York won't mark the resumption of negotiations. "Talks will resume only when Israel proves its commitment to the Road Map (US-backed peace initiative), particularly with regards to its first clause, which calls for an end to Israeli settlement construction," he said.
"Therefore, we believe that if President Obama wants to promote serious negotiations he must make it clear to Netanyahu that the disaster in the Middle East originates from the continued occupation."
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