Palestinian PM furious over "two states for two peoples;" Quartet peacemakers cancel news conference amid rancor; Bill Clinton says there is a "50-50" chance at peace.
By JPOST.COM STAFF, ASSOCIATED PRESSfayyad lookin formal 311(photo credit: AP)
The Quartet canceled a planned press conference at UN headquarters in New York, shortly after Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stormed out of a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Tuesday.Fayyad left the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee meeting furious due to an argument he had with Ayalon, who refused to agree to a version of the meeting's summary because it included the words "two states."Ayalon told Ynet that he suggested instead that it read "two states for two peoples - Jewish and Palestinian," and demanded guarantees that committee donations don't go towards incitement or boycotting of Israeli goods.The Quartet of Mideast peacemakers shepherding newly started direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations abruptly canceled a planned a news conference at the United Nations, after failing to reach agreement on who would appear on behalf of the group.Senior diplomats from Quartet — the U.S., the European Union, the United Nations and Russia — met on the sidelines of the United Nations anti-poverty meeting to discuss a way forward in the negotiations, which have made little visible progress since they resumed earlier this month and are at risk of collapsing.Earlier Tuesday, former president Bill Clinton said that there is a fifty-fifty chance that the current peace talks would result in peace between Israel and the Palestinians, in a speech at the Clinton Global Initiative.He added that enemies of peace may try to cause trouble, but the Middle East is "screaming for peace." In the meantime, negotiators have run into dead ends.
