Moscow said planning Israel-PA summit

Russia is trying to organize a peace summit between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, according to Hebrew media reports.

Preliminary talks have reportedly taken place but no date has been set.

Palestinian sources say they will not agree to a summit until Israel freezes settlement construction in the West Bank and releases security prisoners.

“A few weeks ago, they were talking about Cairo and now they’re talking about Moscow, and perhaps in the future, they’ll talk about someplace else,” Dr. Ahmed Majdalani, an advisor to Abbas and member of the PLO’s Executive Committee, told Haaretz. “But changing the venue won’t change the Palestinian position, and there are agreements Netanyahu must fulfill, like freezing settlement construction, freeing the fourth tranche of veteran prisoners and setting a deadline for ending the occupation. Otherwise, any meeting will be superfluous and won’t lead to any progress.”

Amid speculation over a developing Egyptian bid to revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said last week that Russian President Vladimir Putin was willing to host Israeli and Palestinian leaders for direct talks.

Earlier today Jordanian media reported a similar effort by the US to hold a three-way summit with Israel and the PA, also rejected by Palestinian officials.