The United States announces consensus has been reached on an agreement to begin peace negotiations, amid differing opinions on both sides.  

According to US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, there has been an agreement between Palestinians and Israelis to resume final status peace negotiations. Psaki confirmed that the talks will be held in Washington, DC and are expected to begin within the next two weeks. The announcement comes after US Secretary of State John Kerry said that Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams will meet together after a preliminary agreement on the basis for peace negotiations is reached.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called resumption of the peace process “a vital strategic interest of the state of Israel. It is important on its own to try to bring an end to the conflict between us and the Palestinians, and is important because of the challenges facing us, especially from Iran and Syria.”

Science Minister Ya’akov Peri has warned that “we have a tough road ahead of us. Israel will have to make painful concessions as will the Palestinians. All we can do is hope that things go as smoothly as they possible can.”

Meanwhile, many Israeli politicians, while hoping for peace, are skeptical about the potential for success. “Kerry is still far from recording an achievement about the resumption of the talks,” says Knesset MK Tzippi Hotovely. “The weak Palestinian leadership headed by Mahmoud Abbas has consistently refused to reach a peace agreement and rejected both Olmert’s and Barak’s generous offers. The current move will end with nothing. The question is only when.”

Minister for Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz agrees but insists on maintaining some hope for the process. “Abu Mazen doesn’t appear to be particularly enthused to return to the negotiating table or determined to make concessions and that’s why I’m very cautiously optimistic. We shouldn’t build our hopes up high because the Palestinian side is problematic with its incitement, anti-semitism, and unwillingness to recognize the State of Israel, regardless of the fact that Abu Mazen doesn’t even control Gaza. Still, we might be able to reach an interim solution if not a full-scale agreement.”

From the PA perspective, spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh says that President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to send a delegation to Washington, DC to pursue low-level preliminary talks about the terms for peace negotiations to resume. However, he emphasized that Israel would still have to agree to the pre-1967 borders as a basis and halt construction in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria for negotiations to actually occur.

Palestinian Religious Endowment Minister Mahmoud Al Habbash meanwhile compared negotiations with Israel to the 10-year-truce Muhammed made with the Quraysh tribe, known as the Treaty of Hudaibiya. It temporarily restored calm in the Arabian peninsula between the Muslims and the Quraysh tribe in 628 CE, yet in the end enabled the Muslims to overtake the Quraysh tribe in Mecca. Al Habbash emphasized, “The hearts of the Prophet’s companions burnt with anger and fury … this is not disobedience [of God’s command], it is politics. It is crisis management, conflict management … in less than two years, based on this treaty; the Prophet returned and conquered Mecca. This is the example. It is the model.”

By Rachel Avraham, staff writer for United With Israel