Mideast Peace Process – USDOS daily press briefing/Non-UN document (excerpts)

Marie Harf

Deputy Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing

Washington, DC

January 3, 2014

MS. HARF: Hi, everyone. It’s a packed room today. Happy Friday.

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QUESTION: On Israel, Senators McCain and Graham expressed concern today about Israel’s footing going forward in the negotiations. I’m wondering, is the Secretary finding them a source of help or complication during their combined presence of —

MS. HARF: The senators?

QUESTION: Yes.

MS. HARF: Okay. Didn’t know who you were referring to there. Well, Secretary Kerry did meet with a congressional delegation this morning in Israel. They discussed a range of issues, including the direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, also Afghanistan and the ongoing civil war in Syria. He’ll continue to engage with them. As you know, he spent 30 years in the Congress and on the Foreign Relations Committee and is a big believer in the role of Congress in traveling to other countries, contributing to the foreign policy dialogue, certainly.

I think what he’s focused on is the role we’re playing in these direct negotiations. He’s in meetings today. He was with Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning, President Abbas this evening, this evening Israel time. And I think that what we’re focused on right now is discussing the framework, seeing if we can make progress in narrowing the gaps between the two sides, and seeing where we go from here. Again, he’s happy when other folks contribute to the dialogue, but we’re focused on the work at hand and seeing what we can get done.

QUESTION: Being evening now, do you know anything about the meeting?

MS. HARF: I don’t, no. I’ll check with our team on the road. I know that they were headed into the dinner with President Abbas. I’m happy to check on the latest.

QUESTION: And what was it that the senators were concerned about in terms of Israel being pushed into this negotiation?

MS. HARF: I think you’d have to check in with the senators for them to explain their own words. Obviously, we’ve said that both the Israelis and the Palestinians have taken courageous steps and chosen to come to the table for direct negotiations. So I am not going to parse the senators’ words for them, but what we’re focused on is actually the negotiations and what we can get accomplished.

QUESTION: So did I hear that right, that the Secretary welcomes the comments of the lawmakers?

MS. HARF: I said – did I say welcomed?

QUESTION: I don’t know.

MS. HARF: I don’t think I said welcomed.

QUESTION: So he doesn’t?

MS. HARF: He obviously is a big believer in senators being part of the foreign policy dialogue.

QUESTION: Right. But a hallmark —

MS. HARF: I don’t know how he feels about their exact comments. I haven’t spoken to him since they made them.

QUESTION: Right.

MS. HARF: But in general, he did meet with them today and welcomes them and other senators and members of Congress being engaged in the dialogue on foreign policy.

QUESTION: Okay. So he does welcome it?

MS. HARF: I don’t know —

QUESTION: Right?

MS. HARF: I don’t know what his personal feelings are on these specific comments.

QUESTION: Well no, but you said welcomed. But anyway —

MS. HARF: I said he welcomes people in general being part of the dialogue.

QUESTION: Right, okay. But a hallmark of this negotiation has been that he has made it very clear that he doesn’t want anyone else to talk and that the two sides have agreed that he is going to be sole, lone spokesperson for this whole process. So does he find it – the original question: Does he find it helpful or problematic that the senators are speaking out about this?

MS. HARF: Again, I haven’t spoken to him since they made these specific comments. In general, I know his feelings on senators or members of Congress being part of the foreign policy dialogue. I’m happy to check in with the team —

QUESTION: Okay.

MS. HARF: — and see if there’s more.

QUESTION: And then, is there any change from yesterday in terms of the U.S. wanting or in terms of the Administration offering any kind of opinion as to whether Prime Minister Netanyahu’s complaints about the Palestinians glorifying these prisoners as heroes – the released prisoners as heroes – is there any change, or do you still want to stay mum on —

MS. HARF: I think I will still let the prime minister speak for himself.

QUESTION: But seeing how the Secretary was the force behind, or the – in advocating the release of these prisoners, did he have a —

MS. HARF: Well, the Israeli Government makes decisions for themselves.

QUESTION: Right. Of course, the Israeli Government makes the decision and so on, but it seems that the Secretary put his prestige behind the release – the continuing release —

MS. HARF: And he certainly thinks it’s a courageous decision, yes.

QUESTION: Okay. I take that back. Seeing how he was instrumental in reaching these agreements between Israelis and Palestinians, including the release of the prisoners, did he express any kind of complaint? Did he complain to Abbas about welcoming the prisoners as heroes?

MS. HARF: Again, they were just going into a meeting this evening. I’m happy to check and see if there’s more details. We’ve said that we believe there are partners for peace on both sides, that Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas have both made courageous decisions and are at the table negotiating in good faith. That hasn’t changed. I don’t think I probably have more details about private discussions to read out for you.

QUESTION: Well, I mean, you talked about partners for peace seeing – or listening to Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday. He basically said that the Palestinians were not partners for peace.

MS. HARF: Well, again, I’ll let him speak for himself. But what I would note is that we had a good set of meeting with him yesterday, a good set this morning. Clearly, the process is moving forward, and what we’re focused on is those negotiations and what comes out of them.

QUESTION: And then, it was – almost it could – immediately by Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, who came out and said that the Israelis really don’t want to go forward with peace and that the whole thing is basically a cover for settlements and so on. Do you have any comment? It seems —

MS. HARF: I don’t think —

QUESTION: — since he is the chief negotiator, I mean —

MS. HARF: Yeah, but you ask – every week it seems like there’s some report, someone in the press talking about this. We’re not focused on words in the press. We’re focused on actions at the negotiating table, and that’s exactly what’s happening right now. The two parties are at the table. We are engaged in serious negotiations. We’re at a critical point. The Secretary said yesterday —

QUESTION: Right.

MS. HARF: — that very soon, if not now, we are at a point where both sides are going to have to make tough decisions —

QUESTION: Does that —

MS. HARF: — and we are focused on those discussions squarely.

QUESTION: Does that mean that we are close to a deal, or at least a framework agreement?

MS. HARF: I don’t want to look into the crystal ball.

QUESTION: Yeah.

MS. HARF: I don’t want to look into a crystal ball. The framework is very important. If and when that happens, we certainly think that would be a breakthrough in this process. But there are tough issues, and no one underestimates how hard it’s going to be. I don’t want to look into a crystal ball – because I can’t – to see when we might get some sort of agreement on a framework.

QUESTION: You say that you don’t want to talk about words in the media or words in the press, but my questions yesterday and some of the questions here today have not been – they’ve been about Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments standing next to the Secretary of State, saying that the Palestinians aren’t interested in peace and it’s – and the proof of that or the reasoning behind that is because of this incitement that he claims is still continuing. Does the Administration not think that being an honest broker, that being a facilitator of these talks, means in some way to be a referee and calling fouls or penalties on both sides whenever they do things that – when they do things that are unhelpful?

And the crux of my question is: It would seem to me to be incumbent on the United States when the prime minister of your – one of your biggest allies, potentially the biggest ally in the Middle East, comes out and says that his negotiating partner is inciting violence against the – Israel and not preparing his people for peace. Either you think that’s wrong – and if you do, I think you have an obligation as – do you think you have an obligation as an honest broker to say that it’s wrong? And if it is right, don’t you equally have the obligation to say that we agree with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and President Abbas, do something about this?

MS. HARF: Well, I think we see our obligations as an honest broker to have honest discussions, in this case in private. When we think one side has done something helpful, when we think one side has done something less helpful, we make that plainly clear to the sides directly and privately. And that’s why the Secretary has repeatedly said that these discussions are happening privately. We’re not going to read out those discussions publicly because we don’t think that’s helpful.

I said very clearly what our side – what our position is: that we believe that both sides are negotiating in good faith and that we do believe there are partners for peace on both sides. And it think the fact that Prime Minister Netanyahu was at the table last night and again this morning shows that he’s still invested in the process despite his public comments.

QUESTION: Okay. So if you think that speaking out about this is unhelpful, surely it cannot be helpful when Senator McCain gets out there as a leading member of Congress and says that the Israelis’ concerns are legitimate.

MS. HARF: Again —

QUESTION: How is that neutral?

MS. HARF: I didn’t say it was helpful. I said that we respect – the Secretary respects the right of Congress to play a role in the foreign policy dialogue. And we’re not focused on what the senators are saying; we’re focused on what the parties are saying at the negotiating table.

QUESTION: All right.

MS. HARF: Marie, Israeli reports say that part of – the Israelis suggested as part of this framework agreement that the triangle area, which includes some old Palestinians town, that are in Israel and that where the people are citizens of Israel to move them, actually, in exchange for the settlement. It’s called the triangle area and it also includes 300,000 people that would be moved from being Israeli citizens to being Palestinian citizens. And allegedly, they claim that the Secretary is against that because it is – it’s very close to ethnic cleansing. Could you comment on that?

MS. HARF: Said, I appreciate your tenacity in repeatedly asking about specific rumors about specifics being discussed.

QUESTION: Right. It’s not a rumor.

MS. HARF: It’s – that’s very specific what you just said.

QUESTION: Yeah.

MS. HARF: We are not in any way going to confirm one way or the other any of the specifics being or not being discussed in these negotiations.

QUESTION: Are we going to get some sort of a scorecard or a yardstick or some – like status report anytime soon?

MS. HARF: I’m not sure exactly what you’re looking for, but I think how you can judge it —

QUESTION: Well, how far have we gone since the beginning of these negotiations?

MS. HARF: Well – right. I think a couple points: We’re still at the table engaged in serious and sustained discussions. We are focused right now on this framework, seeing if we can get something finalized that outlines the parameters and the guidelines for the discussions going forward. So obviously, that’s something we’re looking forward to hopefully getting done. I don’t know how else really to score it other than the fact that everyone’s still at the table talking in a serious and sustained way.

QUESTION: Okay. Let me just ask one last question on this issue. I know that we asked Jen – it was last month – about the nine-month period. You guys don’t believe that the nine month is strictly nine months. It can go beyond the nine months, correct?

MS. HARF: Well, we’re still operating under the timeline that the Secretary laid out when we announced the resumption of final status negotiations.

QUESTION: Right.

MS. HARF: Obviously, these are complicated. We know they’ll take time. But nothing’s changed in terms of – in terms, excuse me – of the timeline at this point.

QUESTION: So the nine month could conceivably stretch into 12 months or 14 months?

MS. HARF: I mean, I’m sure there are a lot of hypotheticals that could eventually happen, but we’re still tracking on the same timeline the Secretary laid out.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MS. HARF: Lucas.

QUESTION: Does Secretary Kerry believe that Senators McCain and Graham are helping the negotiations?

MS. HARF: Like I said, I think that he, in general, believes that it’s important for Congress to play a role in the foreign policy dialogue. They obviously don’t have a role in the actual negotiations, right? Their – I think their visit there just demonstrates the very close U.S. relationship with Israel writ large. But in terms of the negotiations, they don’t have a formal role. So we’re happy to hear their views when they make them, but we’re focused on the actual negotiations.

QUESTION: But would he rather them visit it maybe another time than —

MS. HARF: The timing was totally coincidental, honestly. They’re on a longer congressional delegation trip overseas. The Secretary’s trip only came together kind of last minute. It’s totally – and he did meet with them this morning. He worked with them. There were three senators, I think Barrasso as well, that – he’s worked with all of them very closely.

QUESTION: So he’s not the least bit annoyed by the timing?

MS. HARF: Again, I haven’t spoken to him, but the timing was totally coincidental, and I don’t think so, Said.

Yes.

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http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2014/01/219287.htm