Haaretz: Netanyahu wants meeting with Abbas at UN

[Bucky]

Or, as Fox News would put it: Netanyahu goes soft on terrorism by using his voice box.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1109616.html

Netanyahu wants meeting with Abbas at UN
By Barak Ravid and Chaim Levinson, Haaretz Correspondents, Last update - 02:20 24/08/2009

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would like to resume direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority following the United Nations General Assembly meeting in late September.

A senior political source in Jerusalem told Haaretz Sunday that the U.S. has informed Israel that it is interested in assuming the role of "active mediator" during the talks, and "have a place at the negotiating table."

However, Netanyahu's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told reporters Sunday that he sees no chance of peace.

"In the 16 years since the Oslo Accords, we haven't managed to bring peace to the region, and I'm willing to bet that there won't be peace in another 16 years, either. Certainly not on the basis of the two-state solution," Lieberman said.

Sources close to the prime minister said they hope that if an understanding is reached regarding settlement construction, a tripartite meeting could be held with President Barack Obama and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the United Nations.

This afternoon, Netanyahu will travel to London where he will meet on Wednesday with special U.S. envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, in order to continue the discussion on the administration's demands for confidence-building measures between Israel and the Arab world. The U.S. is demanding that Israel freeze temporarily construction in the settlements, and is asking the Arab world to begin normalizing ties with Israel immediately.

It sucks that peace is so painfully slow, but a slick pol like BeBe has to know which way the wind blows.