Lieberman confirms prisoner release is off

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman confirmed on Tuesday that the planned release of more Palestinian prisoners would not take place, based on the argument that the Palestinian Authority had turned to international bodies.

Israel failed to release the fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners at the end of March in breach of the agreement reached between the two sides last summer setting the conditions to resume the stalled peace talks. In response, the Palestinian Authority applied for accession to 15 international agencies to gain further recognition for the state of Palestine, despite promising not to do so during the talks.

Ignoring the Israeli breach, which came first, Lieberman accused the Palestinians of breaking the terms of the peace talks, brokered by the US. “They should pay the price,” he told the Israeli army radio. He also described the Palestinian move to join international bodies as “provocative”.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat met with chief Israeli negotiator Justice Minister Tzipi Livni for the second time on Monday.

Both Erekat and Livni had met with the US special envoy to the Middle East peace process, Martin Indyk, on Sunday night. US State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki described that meeting as “serious and constructive”.

She said that both sides agreed to continue meeting “to discuss ways to overcome the crisis in the talks”. However, she added that they remained far away from each other. “Gaps remain,” she said, “but both sides are committed to narrow the gaps.”