Blair: Israelis and Palestinians must bring serious proposals to new peace talks

more images

more images

more images

more images

Blair: Serious ideas needed for Mideast success

HERZLIYA, Israel — Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair called on Israelis and Palestinians Tuesday to bring serious proposals to a new round of peace talks set to start on Sept. 2.

Blair’s comments come amid moves by both sides to lay out their starting positions since the new U.S.-backed talks were announced last week. Speaking at an Israeli academic conference, Blair said peace talks would only work if they address the big issues.

“There will be no successful negotiations unless all the final status issues are on the table,” he said. “Proposals on these issues will be a litmus test of seriousness.”

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that any future Palestinian state be demilitarized and recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland.

He did not, however, spell out his position on the conflict’s most intractable elements — borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem, often called “final status issues.”

Netanyahu has previously said that he will not allow Jerusalem to be divided.

The Palestinians want the city’s eastern sector as the capital of their future state, along with the West Bank and Gaza.

Also this week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a letter to President Barack Obama that he will withdraw from talks if Israel does not extend the 10-month construction slowdown in its West Bank settlements.

The current slowdown, which bans the building of new homes, is set to expire on Sept. 26, after talks start.

Blair has been assisting the U.S.-led effort to restart peace talks as the special representative of the “Quartet” of Mideast peacemakers — the U.S., the U.N., the European Union and Russia.

Many have met the new talks with skepticism, doubting the will of the Israeli prime minister and the ability of the Palestinian president to reach a settlement.

At the Tuesday conference, Blair dismissed this view, telling his audience that a Palestinian state need not jeopardize Israel’s security.

“I think if Israel can receive real and effective guarantees about its security, then it is willing and ready to conclude the negotiation of a viable, independent Palestinian state,” he said.