Middle East Quartet calls for Israeli-Palestinian peace deal within two years

At a meeting in Moscow of the Quartet of Middle East mediators, which included UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, EU foreign policy representative Catherine Ashton, and the Quartet’s Middle East envoy Tony Blair, Israel’s "unilateral" move to build 1,600 new homes in an east Jerusalem suburb has been condemned. The Quartet urged both the Israeli and Palestinian governments to resume peace negotiations. In a statement, the leaders said that the status of Jerusalem could only be resolved in negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

"The Quartet believes these negotiations should lead to a settlement, negotiated between the parties within 24 months, that ends the occupation that began in 1967 and results in the emergence of an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbors," said the joint statement read out by Ban. It also urged Israel " to freeze all settlement activity, including natural growth, dismantle outposts erected since March 2001 and to refrain from demolitions and evictions in east Jerusalem."

Prior to the meeting in Moscow, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed in a phone call with Clinton a series of "trust-building measures" designed to revive the stalled peace process with the Palestinians. No details of the plan have yet emerged, but the ‘Washington Post’ reports that Netanyahu had reportedly shown readiness to postpone the start of construction work for the 1,600 housing units in Ramat Shlomo while maintaining that Israel was within its right to build in all areas of Jerusalem.

Clinton on Friday called Netanyahu's proposals "useful and productive."