US envoy acknowledges skepticism, sees hope in new talks

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro on Wednesday morning expressed hope that Israelis and Palestinians would reach a peace agreement within the nine months allocated for talks by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

“While it is not certain that we can reach our goal of a permanent agreement in nine months, I believe there is a good chance,” said Shapiro in an interview to Israel Radio, adding that he believed that there was enough time to discuss all of the core issues, “borders, security, refugees, Jerusalem, water — everything, and to consider compromises that both sides can accept.”

“Clearly there are good reasons to be skeptical after all that has happened in the past, and we understand that,” Shapiro guardedly acknowledged. “But there is also good reason for hope, there is a chance that this will succeed, and we should all support the courageous leaders who chose to embark on this path.”

On Tuesday morning, as Israeli-Palestinian talks began in Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that Israel and the Palestinians have no choice but to reach a full peace agreement. He added that the upcoming nine months of talks would seek to resolve all issues between the parties, seemingly shelving any notion of an interim agreement.

Kerry said the sides would meet again in two weeks in Israel or the Palestinian Authority to begin the process of “formal negotiations.”

Future meetings will take place with American mediation, and will be held in private with only the US representatives making public statements. According to Israel Radio, both sides agreed to this condition in order to prevent anything being said that could lead to mutual public recriminations.

“A viable two-state solution is the only way this conflict can end and there is not much time to achieve it,” Kerry said.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, representing the Israeli side along with Yitzhak Molcho, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal envoy to the talks, said she was “hopeful for talks but could not be naive. We cannot afford it in our region.”

“It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be hard with ups and downs, but I can assure you that in these negotiations it is not our intention to argue about the past but to make decisions for the future,” she said.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians were happy to see that all issues would be discussed in the talks.

“I am delighted that all final status issues will be resolved, without any exceptions,” he said. “It’s time for the Palestinians to live in peace, freedom and dignity within their own sovereign state.”

Both Livni and Kerry addressed the deep skepticism that has surrounded the talks, the first round in three years and the latest of a series of negotiations led by the US, but said overcoming the pessimism was paramount to success.

“While I understand the skepticism, I don’t share it and I don’t think we have time for it,” Kerry said.

The skepticism to which Kerry, and on Wednesday Shapiro, alluded was articulated by Likud MK Miri Regev on Wednesday morning when she told Israel Radio that she does not see the Palestinian Authority as a viable peace partner.

“They [the PA] entered these negotiations…and I heard their top officials say that as far as they are concerned, they are entering the negotiations as they did in the past, and they don’t even know what will come out of them.”

Regev further criticized the government for agreeing to release 104 Palestinian prisoners as a precondition to the talks. “If this is what we give them as condition to even negotiate, what will we give up in the course of the negotiations?” she asked.

According to Regev, the majority of the prime minister’s own Likud party currently does not support a two-state solution.

Tuesday’s talks lasted for approximately three hours, with the last 45 minutes devoted to trilateral negotiations between Kerry, Livni and Erekat. Livni described the meeting as “good.”