Kerry to kickstart Israeli peace talks next week

Secretary of State John Kerry is heading back to the Mideast in an attempt to kickstart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. 

In what will be his 10th trip to the region as the Obama administration’s top diplomat, Kerry plans to build upon progress made in peace negotiations between Tel Aviv and Beirut since July, according to a senior Palestinian official. 

“[Secretary] Kerry has told the Palestinian Authority he will return to the region on January 4 to discuss the peace process and negotiations with Israel,” the official told Agence France Presse on Saturday. 

{mosads}The official did not go into specifics as to how long Kerry would be in the region, or which members of the Palestinian Authority he would meet with during the trip.

The last major talks with the Palestinian Authority and Israeli negotiators was in November.  

Earlier this month, Kerry said he was “confident” a settlement could be reached between Israel and Palestine, despite recent setbacks to the peace talks. 

“Both parties remain committed to fulfilling their obligations to stay at the table and negotiate hard during the nine-month period that we set for that,” Kerry told reporters after his most recent trip to the region. 

At the time, Kerry said the Obama White House was “confident” a deal could be reached by April.

But the administration’s optimism on a Israeli-Palestinian deal has yet to materialize among negotiators on both sides. 

After the November talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told members of the conservative Likud Party that the nation was not close to a security agreement with the Palestinians.

That same month, Netanyahu’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told the Brookings Institution’s Saban Forum in Washington that he predicts a peace deal would not be reached in the next year. 

The White House’s tentative deal with Tehran on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program has also thrown a wrench into efforts to restart the peace talks. 

U.S. and Iranian negotiators agreed to a six-month deal calling on Iran to stop enriching uranium above 5 percent for six months, dilute half of the 20 percent enriched uranium, and stop upgrading various enrichment facilities.

In return, the Obama White House agreed to lift sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical, precious metals and auto sectors.

But Tel Aviv has been adamantly opposed to the deal, arguing the pact will allow Tehran to continue its effort to develop a nuclear weapon.