Israel stops Palestinian prisoner release amid talks crisis

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel’s chief negotiator with the Palestinians has told them that a planned release of 26 prisoners cannot proceed, a source close to the embattled peace talks told AFP Thursday.

A frustrated US Secretary of State John Kerry earlier demanded that recalcitrant Israeli and Palestinian leaders demonstrate leadership in the crisis-hit talks.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told a meeting with her counterparts on Wednesday that the prisoner release could not take place, as the Palestinians had unilaterally resumed moves to seek international recognition for their
promised state.

The talks hit a new impasse when Israel failed to free the prisoners as expected at the weekend.

In response, the Palestinians formally requested accession to several international treaties in a bid to unilaterally further their statehood claim.

The source said Livni told the Palestinians that her government had been seeking to expedite the release when the Palestinians submitted their accession request to UN bodies and that they had therefore breached their commitments under the terms of peace talks restarted under US auspices last July.

It said that Livni urged the Palestinians to cancel the move and return to talks.

US officials said that Kerry, who has pursued more than a year of intensive shuttle diplomacy, spoke by phone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday afternoon, but they gave no details.

Kerry said in Algiers Thursday that Israelis and Palestinians made “progress” in lengthy overnight talks in Jerusalem, also attended by the Americans.

His efforts appeared to be on the brink of collapse this week after Israel announced a fresh wave of settlement tenders and the Palestinians resumed international recognition moves.

Washington described them as “unhelpful, unilateral actions”, but insisted diplomacy still had a chance.

Kerry threw down the gauntlet, telling both sides it was time for compromise at what he called a “critical moment” in the peace process.

“You can facilitate, you can push, you can nudge, but the parties themselves have to make fundamental decisions to compromise,” he said.

“The leaders have to lead, and they have to be able to see a moment when it’s there.”

He said progress was made during a meeting between Livni, US special envoy Martin Indyk and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat that lasted until 4:00 am Thursday.

“There is still a gap and that gap needs to close fairly soon.”

Marathon overnight meeting 

The overnight marathon meeting “focused on the necessity of releasing the prisoners”, a Palestinian official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that the applications for accession to several international treaties were “irreversible”.

Each side accused the other of violating undertakings given when the talks began.

“The ball is in Israel’s court now. It should release the prisoners,” former Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh told AFP.

The moves dealt a hammer blow to Kerry’s frenetic efforts to broker an extension of the negotiations beyond their original April 29 deadline.

UN Middle East peace envoy Robert Serry confirmed receiving the Palestinian applications, with a spokesman for the secretary general saying they would consider the “appropriate next steps”.

The first treaty the Palestinians applied to was the Fourth Geneva Convention, which holds huge symbolic importance as it provides the legal basis of their opposition to Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.

In Israel, there was surprise and anger over the Palestinian move.

“The Palestinians have returned to a diplomatic Intifada,” one political official told Yediot Aharonot newspaper, using the Arabic word for uprising.

Pro-government Israel HaYom daily said security officials did not believe the Palestinians wanted the talks to collapse.

“The Palestinians currently have no vested interest in a breakdown of the negotiations. Messages in that vein were relayed in talks that were held between security officials from both sides,” it said.

It also said efforts were under way to compile a list of more prisoners who could be freed should the sides agree to extend the talks.

It added that top officials agree that the potential security repercussions of a talks collapse “will be far greater than the price that Israel will be required to pay for extending the negotiations”.