JERUSALEM: A peace deal with the Palestinians will require a creative, new approach to issues that have defied resolution in past negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.
Netanyahu, back from a Washington peace summit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at which they agreed to try to reach a framework accord within a year, gave no hint in public remarks to his Cabinet about any new ideas he may have in mind.
The talks, relaunched on Thursday amid skepticism in Israel and the Palestinian territories, face an early hurdle when a partial Israeli moratorium on housing starts in West Bank settlements expires Sept. 26.
Netanyahu has resisted extending the freeze, and Abbas has threatened to quit the negotiations if construction resumes. Palestinians see settlements on land Israel occupied in a 1967 war as obstacles to the state they seek.
For the talks to succeed, "we will have to learn the lessons of 17 years of experience from negotiations and to think creatively — what's called 'outside the box'", Netanyahu told reporters at the Cabinet session, referring to a peace process that began with the Oslo interim accords in 1993.
"In order to achieve practical solutions, we'll have to think of new solutions to old problems. I believe this is possible," he added.
In an interview with Palestine Television, Abbas said the talks would focus initially on borders and security, issues that touch on the future of settlements and Israel's demands for measures to ensure a Palestinian state will not pose a military threat.
Arab News
