US, Mideast mediators meet with low expectations

WASHINGTON — The United States and other Mideast mediators meet Monday in Washington, with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in shambles and an upcoming U.N. confrontation over whether to recognize Palestine as an independent country only likely to make the decades-old deadlock even more intractable.

Modest goals have been set by the international diplomatic "quartet" of Mideast peacemakers: U.S., the United Nations, Russia and the European Union. Foremost is getting Israel and the Palestinians back to the table for direct talks after nine months of inaction. That seems an unlikely outcome from Monday's meeting, which is being held as the Palestinians continue to lobby U.N. General Assembly for recognition when it meets in September.

"We thought it was a good idea for them all to touch base at that level, to compare notes on what it's going to take to get the parties back to the table, and to speak to our shared aspirations that we will have a negotiated solution to this issue rather than unnecessary and potentially damaging action in New York in September," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will hold a working dinner and then may release a statement, Nuland said. Prior to the dinner, Clinton will meet separately with Ashton and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the quartet's special representative.

Despite furious U.S. efforts, American and other officials say neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians appear willing to commit to new discussions based on parameters that President Barack Obama outlined in a May speech: two states based on the territorial boundaries that existed before the 1967 Mideast war, with some territory swaps to account for population shifts and security concerns.

Repeated visits to Israel and the West Bank last month by U.S. envoys have produced no tangible results. And this past week, the new U.S. special Mideast peace envoy, David Hale, and White House adviser Dennis Ross pressed the chief Palestinian peace negotiator on one of the biggest points of contention, a Palestinian plan to win U.N. recognition as an independent state.

Israel and the U.S. support an eventually independent Palestine but oppose the attempt to establish one without negotiation with the Jewish state. The administration has tried to get the Palestinians to drop the idea without success.

The measure probably will pass, providing the Palestinians with increased diplomatic power, even though independence still will need the U.N. Security Council's approval. The U.S. would surely veto any such resolution.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential meetings, American officials invariably offered negative assessment of the atmosphere surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. They described it as gloomy and depressing, with one likening the recurrent problems and lack of solutions to a "Groundhog Day" scenario, referring to the movie in which the same day is repeated over and over.

And until last week, the United States wasn't even sure it made sense to meet with the other mediators, believing there was nothing new to discuss. Eventually the administration relented to European calls to get together, but little of substance is expected.

Speaking on the Voice of Palestine radio station, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday the Palestinians were hoping for a strong statement from the quartet.

"The quartet needs not only to state that the negotiations should based on the 1967 borders but Israeli also needs to endorse that in order for us to resume the peace talks," he said. He said that given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to these terms, "we demand the quartet hold Israel responsible for the collapse of the peace process."

Amid scarce signs of a breakthrough, Israelis and Palestinians have been entrenched in an international battle for and against the recognition effort. The Palestinians have sent officials to lobby governments around the world for support; Israeli officials from Netanyahu on down have engaged in a determined counter-effort.

The Palestinians might be persuaded to withdraw the draft at the last minute. But with the peace process essentially frozen for the past two years, Washington has struggled to offer an alternative path and hasn't even been able to get Israel to stop settlement building in areas the Palestinians hope to include in their state.

The Israelis are still fuming over Obama's May 19 speech. By endorsing language on territory that had long been a Palestinian goal as a basis for the talks, Obama upset Israel, which has maintained that all boundaries should be subject to negotiation.

Netanyahu is looking for a concession from the Palestinians in return. Diplomats say he hopes to secure an explicit statement that the Palestinians will recognize Israel as a Jewish state before entering talks.

Complicating matters is a unity deal between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, which controls the West Bank, and the militant Hamas movement in power in Gaza.

Netanyahu has rejected any talks with a Palestinian government including Hamas, which Israel and the U.S. brand a terrorist organization. Abbas has shown an apparent willingness to delay the formation of a unity government with Hamas, but once it happens it will likely jeopardize the process.