For the past eight months, the US administration has managed to keep Israel and the Palestinians engaged in peace talks. But a deadline is fast approaching in late April for Washington to finally show some results. President Barack Obama recently hosted both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to try to push the peace process along. But there are few signs that any real progress is being made. Now with the talks at such a sensitive stage, US Secretary of State John Kerry stunned Jerusalem last week by telling members of Congress that the Netanyahu government made a mistake by insisting the Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Kerry added that it was also unnecessary, since Yasser Arafat already recognized Israel as a Jewish state way back in 1988. This has been a key Israeli demand for the past decade, and the current Palestinian leadership has repeatedly refused to do so. So Kerry’s claims have raised a lot of questions among Israeli leaders. Questions like, why would Kerry pick this time to undermine one of Israel’s most important positions in the peace talks? Was Kerry just misinformed or is he deliberately trying to take the pressure off the Palestinians on a core issue for Israel? What does that say about his status as an honest peace broker? And will this diplomatic gaffe spell the end of the latest US bid to resolve this long-standing conflict? Kerry’s Clumsy Push for Peace! That’s our focus this week here on Front Page Jerusalem! We’ll look at the latest US efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and why they seem to be going nowhere. Our special guest will be Amb. Alan Baker, the former chief legal advisor to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
Program Features On today’s program we’re looking at the latest US efforts to broker a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. In the spotlight – US Secretary of State John Kerry’s surprising claim that the Palestinians already recognized Israel as a Jewish state decades ago. Is he right? To find out, Front Page senior producer David Parsons spoke this week with Ambassador Alan Baker, the former chief legal advisor to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
Word From Zion
In today’s Word From Zion segment, the biblical holiday of Passover is fast approaching and we want to take a look back at this important Jewish festival. Front Page senior producer David Parsons, who is an ordained minister with the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, has more.
Join hosts Earl Cox, Ben Kinchlow and David Parsons for this week’s Front Page Jerusalem, on a radio station near you or visit our website to download the MP3 and to subscribe to program podcasts
Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been holding talks for the past eight months now but have made little headway towards a final peace deal. And the American administration has only a few weeks left to try to extend those negotiations until the end of this year. Some of the desperate steps which the Obama team is reportedly willing to take to get an extension has included the release of Jonathan Pollard, a US naval officer who has served nearly three decades in prison for spying for Israel. Now US Secretary of State John Kerry admitted last week that the talks are simply stuck, because the level of trust between the two parties has hit rock bottom. The Israeli side in particular does not believe the Palestinian leadership under Mahmoud Abbas is ready to make the historic compromises needed for a final peace deal. Meanwhile, the Palestinians are threatening to abandon the talks and go back to the United Nations to achieve statehood. So what are the main sticking points in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talk? What is the US doing to try to extend the negotiations? Will the Obama administration succeed in getting the two sides to keep talking through the end of 2014? And what will likely happen if the negotiations fall apart? Prolonging the Peace Talks! That’s our focus next week here on Front Page Jerusalem! We’ll look at the latest developments in the American push for an extension of the Israeli-Palestinian talks. What’s the hold-up and can it be overcome by US diplomacy? Our special guest will be former Israeli diplomat Lenny Ben-David, who served as deputy head of mission for Israel’s Embassy in Washington.
