On Thursday, Israel's chief negotiator Tzipi Livni reportedly told Palestinian negotiators that the Israeli government will not be proceeding with the release of the final batch of long-serving Palestinian prisoners. This news, said The Washington Post, could severely threaten the breakdown of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that have been backed by the US government.
According to unnamed Israeli officials who are close to the discussions, Livni reasoned that the cancellation of the prisoner release was due to the fact that the Palestinians had taken unilateral steps in order to get greater recognition as an independent country by the United Nations. The all-night meeting was reportedly brokered by US diplomat Martin Indyk.
Moreover, Israel is calling for the withdrawal of Palestine from the 15 UN treaties and protocols Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has signed earlier this week before returning to the negotiable table.
It can be recalled that last summer, US diplomats convinced the Palestinians to go back into negotiations by persuading the Israelis to free 104 long-serving Palestinian inmates, of whom many had been convicted of murdering Israeli individuals. That promise has been threatened when Israel demanded ahead of the Saturday deadline that the Palestinians agree to continue with their talks through the end of this year. The Post said the Palestinians wanted the Israelis to honor their commitment to release all prisoners as agreed first before going back to the talks.
The Post said that prior to the meeting, US Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an hour before Israel announced the potential cancellation of the last batch of Palestinian prisoners.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf insisted on Wednesday that the talks have not met an end, She said, "Look, to be clear, over the last 24 hours, there have been unhelpful actions taken on both sides here, and we didn't think it was a productive time for the secretary to return to the region. But we're not playing the blame game. There is a chance to move this process forward. There is still a chance for this that will require tough decisions by both of the parties. They've made tough decisions up until this point, but we can't make them for them. They need to make them now."
