Quartet envoys to meet Israelis, Palestinians next week

Envoys from the Quartet mediators are scheduled to have separate meetings with the Israelis and the Palestinians in Jerusalem on Oct. 26, the U.S. State Department said on Monday. Calling it "an important step," department spokesman Mark Toner said that the meetings aim to "begin preparations and develop an agenda for proceeding in the negotiations" between the two sides. The Quartet, a foursome of the U.S., the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, issued a statement on Sept. 23 calling on the Israelis and the Palestinians to resume peace negotiations within one month, just as the Palestinians applied for full membership at the UN Security Council earlier in the day. The group proposed that the parties present comprehensive proposals within three months on territory and security, make substantial progress within six months, and reach an overall agreement by the end of 2012. Though direct talks have not restarted within one month, Toner predicted that the upcoming meetings are "going to be productive" and are "a stepping stone" along that timetable laid out by the Quartet "that will hopefully lead back to direct negotiations." "We feel that this meeting, on this date, fulfills the letter of that intent and that it is moving them towards those direct negotiations," Toner told reporters at a regular news briefing. "Don't lose sight for the forest for the trees or however you want to spin the analogy, but what's important is that we're on a path towards direct negotiations," he added. "We feel that we're making progress, and that's our goal." The Palestinians have conditioned a resumption of talks on Israel's renewed ban on settlement building in the occupied lands, while Israel is pressing ahead with its construction plan in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want to be the capital of their future state.