Sources: Quartet push for peace talks weakened by issue of Israel as Jewish state

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The issue of whether and how to suggest that Israel should be a Jewish state ultimately sank diplomatic efforts by the Mideast Quartet to draft a substantive statement to revive peace talks, sources familiar with the matter said.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel and the Palestinians - and their effective proxies in the negotiations, the United States and Russia - remain too far apart on that issue and others.

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The Quartet hoped to draft a statement with "terms of reference" to head off UN push by Abbas but when it became clear that was impossible, they chose to issue a statement on Friday designed to revive peace talks in spite of his request.

In a week of high-stakes diplomacy under the spotlight of the UN General Assembly last week, diplomats could not find a formula acceptable to both sides on the central issues: borders, Jewish settlements, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/sources-quartet-push-for-peace-talks-weakened-by-issue-of-israel-as-jewish-state-1.386779