PLO official says negotiations are futile

PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo has said that negotiations with the Israelis are “futile”. The veteran Executive Committee member told local media that there is no progress in the talks with the Israeli negotiators. “The negotiations will not lead to positive results unless there is great pressure from Washington,” he claimed.

Abed Rabbo’s comments reveal for the first time the lack of progress in the Palestinian-Israeli talks. “Whether the negotiations start or do not start; the meetings take place or do not take place, the result will be the same. There is no progress or any real breakthrough.”

A joint meeting between Tzipi Livni, Israel’s Minister of Justice, and Saeb Erekat, the senior Palestinian negotiator, took place on Tuesday in Jerusalem. It was the sixth meeting between the two sides since the resumption of negotiations in Washington last month.