Kerry identifies three routes to revive peace negotiations

A Western diplomatic source claims that US Secretary of State John Kerry has identified the economy, security and political situation as the three main routes to a resumption of the peace negotiations between Palestine and Israel. Kerry, it is alleged, is working on opportunities to attract major investment to the West Bank, but it is not clear when will he announce the package of projects which was expected to be unveiled a few days ago.

“The secretary of state will talk about three parallel tracks: economy, security and politics,” said the anonymous source. “He has started a series of meetings with important businessmen in the United States to push the investment opportunities in the West Bank, in collaboration with American institutions, but so far it is unclear whether he has made progress or not.”

It was announced that Kerry met with the Quartet envoy, Tony Blair to discuss the issue with him. A Quartet official said on Saturday, “We have been working for some time with the Quartet members to strengthen the Palestinian economy and institutions and we believe that the development of the Palestinian economy will allow for the success of political negotiations.”

Kerry had previously announced that the economic track is not a substitute for the political process, but it reinforces it and helps it to progress further.