Senior Palestinian official says peace talks stuck
Nabil Shaath: PA scaled back campaign for international recognition of statehood so as not to stymie future prisoner releases
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Senior Palestinian official Nabil Shaath said Tuesday that no progress has been made in the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and dubbed the negotiations “a dialogue of the deaf,” Israel’s Army Radio reported.
“The peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have not registered any progress since they were renewed five months ago,” Shaath said.
Shaath, a vocal proponent of the two-state solution who has previously called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “pragmatist,” further remarked that the Palestinian Authority is refraining from taking other measures to secure international recognition so as not to sabotage the prisoner releases.
“The [Palestinian] Authority is not turning to international organizations with a request to include them as a state so as not to blow up the prisoner exchange deal,” Shaath said.
Fifty-two Palestinian prisoners have been released as part of the four-stage prisoner release agreement, and an additional 52 are set to be released in the coming months.
The peace talks have encountered a number of obstacles since they were reinstated last July. Netanyahu was harshly criticized recently by the Palestinians for approving further construction plans in the West Bank, which led to the Palestinian negotiating team resigning on November 13.
The Times of Israel Community.