Shaked: Netanyahu never supported Indyk's involvement in peace talks
Bayit Yehudi MK says that the PM agreed to Indyk's appointment as special envoy to the talks only because Kerry asked.
By JPOST.COM STAFFAYELET SHAKED 370(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem / The Jerusalem Post)
Bayit Yehudi MK Ayelet Shaked had harsh words for US special envoy to the Middle East Martin Indyk on Sunday for putting blame on Israel for the breakdown in the negotiations. In an interview with Army Radio, Shaked also said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not support Indyk having a role in the talks that came to a halt on April 24. The MK said that Netanyahu's opinion of Indyk was based on the prime minister's previous experience with him in the 1990s. Netanyahu agreed to Indyk's appointment to the latest round of talks only because Kerry asked, she said.Shaked blasted Indyk for "daring to blame Israel" for the breakdown in the talks when, "The Palestinians breached the essence of the negotiations by unilaterally turning to the UN and by creating a unity government with a terror organization." "Indyk and people like him have made their livelihood for years from the peace industry that leads nowhere. It seems that it is difficult for these people to see reality." Following the halt in the talks, Indyk said in a speech earlier this month to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, that neither Israel nor the Palestinians sense urgency in their pursuit of peace with one another. He also said Israeli building in the West Bank settlements undermined the peace process."Rampant settlement activity– especially in the midst of negotiations— doesn't just undermine Palestinian trust in the purpose of the negotiations," Indyk said. "It can undermine Israel’s Jewish future," Indyk said in a speech earlier this month to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Shaked was also critical of Justice Minister and Israel's representative to the negotiations Tzipi Livni, who met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in London on Saturday, despite the Israeli government's decision to cease the talks in the wake of the Abbas's announcement that he would be pursuing a unity government with Hamas."Livni voted in favor of the cabinet decision to freeze the negotiations," Shaked said, adding that for the talks to restart the cabinet would have to reconvene and vote.Shaked told Army Radio she thought that Netanyahu did not know in advance about the meeting between Livni and Abbas and that she only became aware of the meeting through the media.
Shaked said the ministers of Livni's Hatnua party needed to understand that the peace process would not take place, because the the divide between the Israelis and Palestinians was too wide and no peace deal would be signed in the coming years.
