(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - Palestinian officials in Ramallah have been competing with each other to release statements regarding the secret peace talks with Israel, seeking to hold Israel responsible for the expected failure of the U.S.-sponsored talks. The Palestinian statements and threats are aimed at prompting the U.S. to pressure Israel to comply with the PA's demands. The Palestinians hope the presence of a U.S. envoy at the negotiating table would help pressure Israel, and they are disappointed that U.S. envoy Martin Indyk has attended only one out of five sessions. Furthermore, Palestinian comments about Israeli "intransigence" are aimed at holding Israel fully responsible for the failure of the talks. But these statements have proven counter-productive. The more Palestinian officials talk about the "futility" and "ineffectiveness" of the peace talks, the more opposition grows to the negotiations with Israel. Why should any Palestinians be in favor of the peace talks when their leaders are declaring, almost daily, that the negotiations are just a waste of time?
2013-09-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive