Qatar says it embraces the framework for Middle East peace outlined yesterday in a speech by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
In a statement, the Sunni Gulf state says it “welcomed the proposals” put forward by Kerry “regarding a permanent settlement for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
The country’s Foreign Ministry says Kerry’s proposals “go in line with the majority of international legitimacy’s resolutions as well as the Arab Peace Initiative, stressing Qatar’s support for efforts aiming at reviving the peace process in the Middle East.”
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (right) talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry before their meeting at the Diwan Palace in Doha, on August 3, 2015. (AFP/Brendan Smialowski/Pool)
The acceptance of Kerry’s proposal appears to be a tacit nod to the Israeli government’s core demand the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
Citing the 1947 UN partition plan, Kerry endorsed Netanyahu’s demand that the Palestinians recognize the principle of two states for two peoples — “one Jewish and one Arab, with mutual recognition and full equal rights for all their respective citizens.”
“Recognition of Israel as a Jewish state has been the US position for years, and based on my conversations in these last months, I am absolutely convinced that many others are now prepared to accept it as well – provided the need for a Palestinian state is also addressed,” Kerry said.
— Raphael Ahren
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