Clinton: Latest effort could be last chance for Mideast peace

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Clinton: Latest effort could be last chance for Mideast peace - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Clinton: Latest effort could be last chance for Mideast peace
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that those who doubt the prospects for success of Israel-Palestinian peace talks are 'wrong'.
By DPA and Natasha Mozgovaya

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday the direct talks launched between the Israelis and Palestinians could be the last chance to secure a peace settlement in the long-running conflict. Clinton expressed confidence that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are committed to negotiating a peace agreement.

"Both sides and both leaders recognize that there may not ever be another chance," Clinton said at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. Clinton hosted Netanyahu and Abbas at the State Department last week for the first direct negotiations between the two sides in nearly two years. Clinton plans to attend a second round of talks on September 14 and 15 in Egypt.

Clinton cast aside those who doubt the prospects for success as "wrong" and said the process has gained momentum with backing from Arab states willing to accept a two-state solution. "There's a certain momentum," she said. "You know, we have some challenges in the early going that we have to get over, but I think that we have a real shot here."

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Clinton: There may never be another chance for peace
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks before Council on Foreign Relations, says Washington optimistic as to peace talks chances, if parties overcome 'initial obstacles'
Yitzhak Benhorin
Published: 09.08.10, 20:16 / Israel News

WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated the American administration's optimism as to Israeli-Palestinian peace process' chances of success Wednesday. Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations, Clinton said that she believed the "pessimists" were wrong to think the talks were doomed to fail. Peace can be achieved, she said, if the parties will overcome "initial obstacles" – a clear hint the settlement freeze set to end on September 26. The Palestinians have already threatened to walk away from the negotiating table should Israel resume its settlement activity.

"Both sides and both leaders recognize there may never be another chance” to achieve peace, Clinton said. "I think for most Israeli leaders that I have known and worked with, and especially those coming from sort of the right of Israeli politics, which the prime minister does – you know, it's like Mario Cuomo's famous line: you know, they campaign in poetry and they govern in prose. And the prose is really challenging. "You look at where Israel is and the threats it faces demographically, technologically, ideologically, and the idea of striking a peace deal with a secular Palestinian Authority that is committed to its own people's economic future makes a lot of sense if it can be worked out," she said.

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