Kerry says election in Israel off-limits

Halting violence a priority, he states

Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that America opposes any effort that would undermine Israel’s election process.
Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that America opposes any effort that would undermine Israel’s election process.

LONDON -- Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that America opposes any effort that would undermine Israel's election process, but he said he hopes the U.S. and its partners can help advance Mideast peace and respond to the frustrations of Palestinians.

Some nations have suggested the United Nations Security Council should set a framework for peace negotiations, which Israel fiercely opposes. Kerry emphasized Tuesday the importance of nations avoiding anything that interferes or "might be perceived as interfering" in Israeli elections planned for March.

The priorities, Kerry said, should be halting growing Israeli-Palestinian violence and creating conditions for an eventual resumption in peace talks.

"Right now we're trying to have a constructive conversation with everybody to find the best way to go forward in order to create the climate, the atmosphere, the political space if you will, to be able to go back to negotiations," Kerry said in London, the last stop on a three-nation European trip devoted to Mideast diplomacy.

"In the end, though, this isn't up to the international community or others," Kerry said. "This has to be decided by the parties."

Kerry's stop included meetings with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby.

He met Monday in Rome with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who took a hard line against Palestinian and French proposals for U.N.-mandated parameters and timelines for a two-state solution. He also met in Paris with the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany.

President Barack Obama's administration is reluctant to join any effort that could get in the way of Israel's democratic process, but it is being pressed by close allies to endorse a French framework that largely adheres to U.S. policy.

France still hasn't formally introduced its proposal. It speaks of the 1967 Mideast borders as the basis for dividing the land, which Obama has publicly backed, but it doesn't include key Israeli -- and U.S. -- conditions such as Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

France's diplomatic push was prompted by a more far-reaching Jordanian resolution, on behalf of the Palestinians, that demands a full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank within two years and full recognition of a Palestinian state, with no talk of land swaps or security measures.

Palestinian officials had said the Jordanian resolution would be submitted for a possible vote today. Foreign Minister Riad Malki backtracked Tuesday, telling Voice of Palestine radio that the Palestinians were awaiting the outcome of this week's diplomacy in Europe before deciding when to go to the U.N. He suggested a possible postponement.

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius made his case Tuesday to Elaraby, Egyptian and Palestinian ministers, and former Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Fabius said "it's high time" to resume peace talks. But Peres said a Palestinian state would be better reached "through an agreement than through an imposition."

Support for France even within Europe is uncertain, despite mounting pressure for legislators across the continent to hold votes recognizing a Palestinian state. Countries are divided over the idea of setting a 2016 deadline, with Germany particularly reluctant, diplomats said.

Kerry cited several examples of the downward security trend in Israel and the West Bank: Israelis have been stabbed while buying groceries, axed to death while praying and subjected to acid attacks. He also cited the recent loss of a senior Palestinian official during protests, the burning of a mosque near Ramallah and attacks by Jewish extremists.

"We want to find the most constructive way of doing something that therefore will not have unintended consequences, that also stems the violence," Kerry said.

"It's a particular sensitive moment because we understand the frustrations of Palestinians," he added. "They don't see another course at this moment."

The key, Kerry said, is to "try to find whether or not there are other options, other ways, other courses ... to respect the process that Israelis are about to undergo."

Information for this article was contributed by Angela Charlton and Mohammed Daraghmeh of The Associated Press.

A Section on 12/17/2014

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