Happy New Year: A Song for 2010
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8tuTSi6Sck&feature=related[/youtube]
Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally pre-empt, or appear to pre-empt, negotiations. Rather, both parties should return to negotiations without preconditions as soon as possible.
We believe that through good faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome that realizes the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem, and safeguards its status for people around the world.
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* Refugees: Netanyahu said he was willing to discuss the refugee issue only in a multilateral framework.
* Previous agreements: Netanyahu is willing to commit to all previously-signed agreements.
* Arab Peace Initiative: Netanyahu is not willing to support the plan, but is willing to say both sides are taking into consideration international initiatives, including this one, that contribute to the advancement of the peace process.
Although the government called Beilin's words "unfounded", Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit's "good news" following the meeting with Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas's scheduled visit to Cairo on Wednesday, and U.S. Mideast special envoy George Mitchell's expected visit in the second week of January lend weight to Beilin's scenario.
Some observers have linked these development to Netanyahu's reshaping of his Government. Haaretz's Akiva Eldar argued that "Netanyahu needs Kadima to fill the ranks that will empty in the wake of the departure of his partners from Yisrael Beiteinu and the National Union, and perhaps also some members of [Netanyahu's] Likud". Israel Harel from Haaretz added, "Netanyahu does need Kadima: to serve as a political counterweight to the ultra-Orthodox, in order to transform them from a growing burden to productive partners in building the Israeli state and Israeli society." Harel warned,however, that Likud might be divided again if Netanyahu cannot move further due to the Right's firm opposition.