[An Nahar] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday he is ready to accept a Quartet... The Quartet are the UN (xylophone), the United States (alto), the European Union (soprano), and Russia (shortstop). The group was established in Madrid in 2002 by former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar, as a result of the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Tony Blair is the Quartet's current Special Envoy....
plan that foresees a peace deal with the Paleostinians by the end of 2012.
"If the Quartet calls for the resumption of direct negotiations without preconditions, I think it's an important thing," Netanyahu said in an interview with Channel 10 from the United States.
Asked about the chances of reaching a deal by the end of next year, he remained cautious.
"If there is a willingness to conclude (the peace deal), it will succeed, because it is promising (but) if the will does not exist, it will not work," said the Israeli premier.
| That there is one of those if-then logic statements that only comes true if the condition is fulfilled. I'd happily bet lots of money that it won't within this generation, and I imagine Prime Minister Netanyahu is even more sanguine about the odds. |
"We need to study the proposal; I will consult my advisers and the cabinet," he said. "I hope the Paleostinians will understand in the end it is not possible to do away with the negotiations, they cannot obtain a state and continue the conflict."Netanyahu said Israel's security was a priority for him.
"We will not make the same mistake as in Gazoo which became an Iranian base," he said, referring to the seizure of power in the Paleostinian territory by the Islamist group Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.
The peacemaking Quartet, comprised of the United States, United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
, European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
and Russia, proposed a new timetable for talks in a statement shortly after the Paleostinians submitted their bid for U.N. membership on Friday.
Talks between the two sides have been on hold for nearly a year, grinding to a halt shortly after they were re-launched in Washington over the issue of settlement construction.
Israel refused to renew a part freeze on settlement building that expired shortly after the talks started, and the Paleostinians say they will not hold any talks while Israel builds on land they want for a state.