At a news conference Tuesday at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Secretary of State John Kerry stated that an economic development initiative in the West Bank would “begin to take hold immediately.” This initiative is intended to create jobs and economic security and provide continued support of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. This announcement followed three days of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials where Kerry stated both sides had committed to continued discussions.
The focus of Mr. Kerry’s trip to the West Bank was to find a way to revive negotiations between Israel and Palestine. The goal is to resume talks after a hiatus of many years. Though a breakthrough did not appear close at hand, an Israeli official felt, “I think we are at the pre-breakthrough stage.” Additionally, there is talk of reviving the Arab Peace Initiative, an outline for peace that was adopted by the Arab League in 2002. The original initiative called for “full Israeli withdrawal from all the Arab territories occupied since June 1967.” Mr. Kerry said that Peace Initiative could be an important contribution to the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.
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