PA has no information about EU negotiation plan

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Monday that he does not have any information about an EU plan for moving forward Palestine-Israel negotiations. No plan, he insisted, has been sent to Ramallah for consideration by the PA. In any case, noted the veteran negotiator, discussions without an immediate halt to settlement expansion and the release of Palestinian prisoners “really mean nothing”.

European sources revealed recently that the EU is working on a detailed political plan aiming to revive the peace process. According to Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, such a plan will be proposed to both sides in March, after Israel’s general election. The EU negotiation plan, claimed the newspaper, proposes a clear schedule for all the “essential outstanding issues” to be completed in 2013.

The king, who warned of the failure of a peaceful solution, was speaking to an AIPAC delegation in his palace on Monday. AIPAC is the most influential pro-Israel lobby group in the United States.

Based on his analysis of the political changes in the region, King Abdullah advised Israel’s government to “embrace peace”. He described Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank as measures that hinder peace efforts and called for them to be stopped.