Kerry heads to Ramallah to hold third meeting with Abbas

US Secretary of State, John Kerry, decided to head to Ramallah this morning in order to convene a third meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as part of John Kerry's current Middle East tour. Minister Kerry took this decision after he had held a lengthy meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu last night. "Radio Israel" reported that no details were provided as to the content of the meeting, however, political commentators mentioned that it was lengthy and attended by Israeli judicial consultants and army officers as well as other officials indicate that it was not an ordinary meeting. The "Israeli Radio" station reported that Kerry sought to convene a quadrilateral meeting in Amman this week in order to resume negotiations between Israel and Palestinians, however, he was pessimistic regarding any chances of succeeding in his efforts. A Palestinian official last night ruled out any breakthrough during Kerry's tour, adding that during the Palestinian side's meeting with Kerry, no change occurred in the Israeli stance regarding recognition of the "1967 borders" as the basis for negotiations or the issue of freezing the construction of Israeli colonial settlements.