US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday called on Israel to make greater efforts to ease tensions with Palestinians, on the same day as US Middle East envoy George Mitchell pledged his country’s support for regional peace at a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II. Clinton, who is on a tour aimed at re-launching Middle East peace talks, praised efforts by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to improve security, said that Israel should do more to reciprocate these efforts and that Washington still opposes new Jewish settlements in the West Bank. 

The United States had urged a total halt to new Israeli construction in the occupied West Bank as a precursor to new negotiations, but on Saturday Clinton said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s offer to restrict new building was “unprecedented.”

Clinton said Monday that Netanyahu’s offer “falls far short of our preferences” but was still worth seizing.

“If it is acted upon it will be an unprecedented restriction on settlements and will have a significant and meaningful effect on restraining their growth,” Clinton said ahead of an international conference of Arab foreign ministers in Marrakech, Morocco.

“The Obama administration’s position on settlements is clear and unequivocal. It has not changed,” she added.

The US does not accept the legitimacy of continuing Israeli settlements,” she said.

Clinton added that she has pressured Israel to do “much more” for Palestinians.

“I told Prime Minister Netanyahu that these positive steps on the part of the Palestinians should be met by positive steps from Israel on movements, access … and Israeli security arrangements in the West Bank,” she said.

Abbas “has shown leadership and determination” regarding concerns over security, she said, “and Israel should reciprocate.” 

Clinton is also to meet on Monday with Morocco’s King Mohammad VI, who according to a government source will push an Arab peace initiative offering a full normalization of ties in exchange for a return to pre-1967 borders.

Ahead of the Marrakech conference, a US official argued that Netanyahu “goes further in his willingness to restrain the settlements than any Israeli government before.” 

“While we reject the legitimacy of settlements, we also do not feel that they should be a precondition for negotiations,” said Clinton’s spokesman, Philip Crowley.

The Arab world, however, was unconvinced. According to the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, Abbas and his aides were “astonished” by Clinton’s acceptance of Netanyahu’s offer.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu al-Gheit said Sunday that it was “not reasonable or acceptable to conduct negotiations with the continuation of settlements.” 

Even the left-wing Israeli daily Haaretz was puzzled by Clinton’s position. “All US presidents since [the 1993 Oslo accords], including Hillary Clinton’s husband, treated the settlements just like the weather: an interesting topic for conversation, but impossible to change. But Barack Obama has promised a change, not more of the same,” the paper said.

King Abdullah urged Washington to take a “leading role” in the peace process during Mitchell’s visit to Jordan on Monday. 

“Mitchell stressed that the US is committed to achieving a just and comprehensive peace between Israel and the Palestinians based on a two-state solution,” a palace statement said. “He said Washington will continue to work hard on achieving peace.”

The king, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, urged the United States to help create a “suitable environment” for jump-starting Palestinian-Israeli peace talks “in line with a clear timetable,” the statement said.

“Washington should assume a leading role in finding a suitable environment to jump-start Palestinian-Israeli peace talks,” he was quoted as telling Mitchell.

“The king warned that failing to create peace will affect the stability and security of the entire region.” – AFP, with The Daily Star