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Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority have been taking place since September 2010 as part of the peace process, between United States President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The ultimate aim of the direct negotiations is reaching an official "final status settlement" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by implementing a two-state solution, with Israel remaining a Jewish state, and the establishment of a state for the Palestinian people. In early 2010, Benjamin Netanyahu, imposed a ten-month moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank as a gesture for the Palestinian Authority, after previously publicly declaring his support for a future Palestinian state, however he insisted that the Palestinians would need to make reciprocal gestures of their own. The Palestinian Authority rejected the gesture as insufficient. Nine month later, direct negotiations between Israel and the PA relaunched, after nearly two years of stalemate.〔("Direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders to begin," ) Janine Zacharia, August 31, 2010, washington post.〕 In early September, a coalition of 13 Palestinian factions began a campaign of attacks against Israeli civilians, including a series of drive-by shootings and rocket attacks on Israeli towns, in an attempt to derail and torpedo the ongoing negotiations.〔("Islamist groups attempt to derail Middle East talks," ) Mark Weiss, September 4, 2010, Irish Times.〕 Direct talks broke down in late September 2010 when an Israeli partial moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank expired and Netanyahu refused to extend the freeze unless the Palestinian Authority recognized Israel as a Jewish State, while the Palestinian leadership refused to continue negotiating unless Israel extended the moratorium.〔(PM Netanyahu's Speech at the Opening of the Knesset Winter Session ), Embassy of Israel 12-10-2010〕 The proposal was rejected by the Palestinian leadership, that stressed that the topic on the Jewishness of the state has nothing to do with the building freeze. The decision of Netanyahu on the freeze was criticized by European countries and the United States.〔(Palestinians quash PM's offer for renewed building freeze ), Jerusalem Post 11-10-2010〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Netanyahu offers settlement freeze in return for recognition as Jewish state, Palestinians say no )〕 == Background == Direct negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government have continued for many decades and remain a complicated issue to resolve. When President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, he has made peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a top priority of his administration, appointing former Senator George Mitchell as his peace envoy. In March 2009 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton traveled to Israel. She said that Israeli settlements and demolition of Arab homes in East Jerusalem were "unhelpful" to the peace process. Clinton also voiced support for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu supports Palestinian self-government but did not explicitly endorse US and Palestinian visions for Palestinian statehood. Upon the arrival of President Obama administration's special envoy, George Mitchell, Netanyahu stated that any resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians will be conditional on the Palestinians recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. So far the Palestinian leadership has rejected a US-backed proposal extending a settlement freeze in exchange for recognizing Israel as a Jewish state,〔 as this issue had not been sufficiently clarified by Israel at that time. On June 4, 2009 Obama delivered a speech at the Cairo University in Egypt in which Obama addressed the Muslim world. The speech called for a "new beginning" in relations between the Islamic world and the United States. With respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the President stated that "the only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states" and called upon both Israel and the Palestinians to resume negotiations. In addition, during the speech Obama added that "The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements" as it "undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop."〔(Remarks by the President On a New Beginning ), The White House 4-6-2009〕 On June 14, in what was understood as a response Obama's Cairo speech, Netanyahu gave a speech at Bar-Ilan University in which he endorsed, for the first time, a "Demilitarized Palestinian State", after two months of refusing to commit to anything other than a self-ruling autonomy when coming into office. Netanyahu also stated that he would accept a Palestinian state if Jerusalem were to remain the united capital of Israel but open to all religions, the Palestinians would have no military, and the Palestinians would give up their demand for a right of return. He also claimed the right for a "natural growth" in the existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank while their permanent status is up to further negotiation. In general, the address was viewed as a significant turnaround from his previously hawkish positions against the peace process. On July 12, 2009, Mahmoud Abbas told Egyptian media that he would not cede any part of the West Bank to Israel, that he would demand territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and that he would never waive the Palestinian right of return. In a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, Abbas demanded that any peace deal be based strictly on the 1967 borders and the Arab Peace Initiative. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat rejected any "middle ground solutions", saying that the Palestinians would reject any deal between the U.S. and Israel that would allow any construction to continue in Israeli settlements.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Abbas: We won't waive right of return )〕 On 23 August 2009, Netanyahu announced in his weekly cabinet meeting that negotiations with the Palestinians will begin in September 2009 and will be officially launched on his visit to New York, after he had accepted an invitation from President Barack Obama for a "Triple Summit" there. He added that there is progress with special envoy George Mitchell, though there is no full agreement on everything, and there will be more rounds of meetings until September. On the same day, a spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas said there would be no negotiations so long as Israel continued West Bank settlement construction. On 20 September 2009, the White House announced that it will host a three-way meeting between President Obama, Prime Minister Netanyahu and PA President Mahmoud Abbas, within the framework of the United Nations General Assembly, "in an effort to lay the groundwork for renewed negotiations on Mideast peace." The meeting took place on 22 September, in New York. Afterwards, Netanyahu said that he agreed with Abbas during the meeting that peace talks should be relaunched as soon as possible. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2010–11 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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