By Raphael Ahren, Diplomatic Correspondent, Apr. 8, 2014, The Times Of Israel
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that both
Israelis and Palestinians were responsible for the current crisis in peace
talks, but appeared to allocate the lion’s share of the blame to Jerusalem.
At the same time, he expressed hope that the two sides would
continue to negotiate, but also warned that there was a “limit” to how much
effort the US government could invest in the process if the two parties weren’t
serious about negotiating a pact.
“Both sides wound out in a position of unhelpful moves,”
Kerry said at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, delineating
what he said led to the current impasse.
“The prisoners were not released by Israel on the day they
were supposed to be released and then another day passed and another day, and
then 700 units were approved in Jerusalem and then poof — that was sort of the
moment,” Kerry said.
The secretary of state was referring to the planned fourth
release of Palestinian security prisoners, which was originally slated for
March 29. Israel did not proceed with the release on time, with Jerusalem
saying that it was delayed because the Palestinian Authority had demanded that
Israeli Arabs be among those freed and was unwilling to commit to extend peace
talks beyond their April 29 deadline.
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