Israelis, Palestinians meet amid talks stalemate

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were meeting on Thursday in US-mediated discussions to try to break a stalemate in crisis-hit peace talks, a Palestinian official said. The meeting came after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered ministers on Wednesday to limit contact with their Palestinian counterparts as the US-brokered talks neared their deadline apparently close to collapse. American envoy Martin Indyk presided over the meeting in Jerusalem between Israel's chief negotiator, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and her Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erakat, a Palestinian source close to the talks told AFP on condition of anonymity. Also present were Netanyahu confidant Yitzhak Molcho and Palestinian intelligence chief Majed Farah, the source said. The Palestinians were pushing for the release of a final batch of prisoners, a commitment Israel reneged on at the end of March in a move which sparked the latest impasse. Israeli public radio confirmed Thursday's meeting was taking place but gave no details. An Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity that "Israel wants to return to talks and overcome the current crisis". Israel refused to release 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners, going back on a pledge it made at the beginning of talks that US Secretary of State John Kerry kick-started in July. The Palestinians responded by abandoning their own commitment not to seek international recognition until the talks finished on April 29, applying for membership of 15 international treaties. Kerry on Tuesday blamed Israel for the crisis, saying its April 1 approval of 708 Jewish settlement homes in east Jerusalem derailed plans for the prisoner release. While he cited intransigence on both sides, Kerry said the delayed release was sabotaged by the settlements move. "In the afternoon, when they were about to maybe get there, 700 settlement units were announced in Jerusalem and, poof, that was sort of the moment," Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Source: AFP