Since the Israel-Palestine peace talks finally collapsed, the two sides have been engaged in a blame game. Was it the fault of the Israelis, who failed to freeze settlement construction and reneged on a promise to release Palestinian prisoners? Or was it the Palestinians? They, too, broke an agreement to halt unilateral action when they applied for membership of 15 international conventions—signaling that they might attempt to seek international recognition of statehood as a way of side-stepping the talks—and then struck a surprise deal with Hamas, a group that does not recognise Israel, which would see a unity government leading Palestine.
Amid all the finger-pointing, relations continue to deteriorate. In an interview with The Independent over the weekend, Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said that if Israel continues to “undermine agreements… through continuous settlement activity, and lately though destroying the peace process, they are paving the way for the destruction of what remains of our relationship,” threatening to freeze cooperation with Israeli security operations in the West Bank. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry appears to be hoping that talks may be resumed after a hiatus.
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Jessica Abrahams 