Israel, Palestinians Set to Resume Indirect Talks

JERUSALEM (May 4) -- After more than a year's hiatus and amid ongoing U.S.-Israeli tensions, Israeli-Palestinian "proximity" talks are set to resume Wednesday. Special Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell will shuttle between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.

Even before the talks resume, each side is accusing the other of trying to undermine the negotiations. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel sees the indirect talks as only "second best."

"Our hope is that the proximity talks will lead swiftly to direct talks," Regev told AOL News. "Proximity talks are a step in the right direction, but there's no substitute for direct negotiations."

Israeli military officials also said they do not believe Abbas is strong enough to make major concessions.

"Abbas is laying the groundwork for the failure of the talks," Military Intelligence Chief Yossi Baidatz told the Knesset foreign affairs committee today. "We do not detect any real attempt on Abbas' part to show flexibility on the core issues, and he will start the talks with the same positions he presented the previous [Israeli] government."

At the same time, Palestinian officials have accused Israel of failing to stop settlement construction in both the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel has quietly slowed down construction in both places, but Palestinian officials say the ongoing construction dooms any chance of the talks succeeding.

"Our position has consistently been that we will not accept a building freeze in East Jerusalem," Regev said.

Netanyahu was in Egypt on Monday to meet President Hosni Mubarak, who has pushed hard for the resumption of talks. The visit was meant to show that the negotiations have an "Arab umbrella" of support. President Barack Obama telephoned the Israeli prime minister upon his return -- their first conversation since a tense meeting in Washington in March -- and offered his support for progress in the negotiations.

Israeli and Palestinian media say they expect Israel to offer a series of concessions as discussed in Netanyahu's meeting with Obama. Israel is likely to remove more roadblocks in the West Bank and free some of the 10,000 Palestinian prisoners. The Reuters news agency reported that Israel is considering handing over security responsibilities to Palestinians in additional West Bank towns, including Abu Dis, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Regev said he could not confirm the report.

As the talks begin, violence is continuing in the West Bank. Palestinians accused Jewish settlers of responsibility for fires that ripped through a mosque and an olive grove today, burning holy books and prayer carpets. Israeli police said they are investigating. If Jewish settlers are found responsible, that could fan religious tensions in the area.

The talks also ignore what Israeli media have called the "elephant in the room" -- the fact that Abbas speaks for only half of the Palestinian population, those who live in the West Bank. Another 1.5 million Palestinians live in Gaza , which is controlled by the Islamist Hamas movement.

Hamas refuses to recognize the talks, and even if they manage to produce an agreement, it is doubtful Hamas would accept it.

Since Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, Israel has imposed a blockade that has kept many consumer goods out of Gaza. Hamas responded by sanctioning a network of underground tunnels used to smuggle everything from car parts to cola. But Hamas is currently facing a financial crisis, sparked partly by an Egyptian crackdown on the tunnels. Hamas has instituted a series of taxes, including an 80-cent levy per package of cigarettes that has proved extremely unpopular in Gaza, where many men smoke.

For the second month in a row, Hamas has been able to pay only between one-third and one-half of the salaries of most civil servants. Teachers and other civil servants who are paid by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank city of Ramallah receive their full salaries.