Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz during his meeting with US President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday, 21 June, 2012. (Photo credit: White House)
The Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz told US President Barack Obama that the newly-formed coalition government is willing to launch a new round of peace talks with the Palestinians without "preconditions" during an unscheduled meeting on Thursday in the White House.
“We have a window of a year and a half. It is possible to reach an agreement on borders and security arrangements,” Mofaz told the Times of Israel.
Though he pointed out that talks would be resumed soon, Mofaz did not set a specified date for reviving the negotiating process with the Palestinians after he spent more than half an hour with Obama.
"I say with very cautious optimism that it will happen in the near future. Whether it will be three week or three months, I don't know", Mofaz told the Jerusalem Post after the latest meeting he has Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu’s support in looking to restart talks without preconditions, such as the settlement freeze that Palestinians have insisted be in place for any negotiations to take place.
Netanyahu and Mofaz announced their decision to go into government together last month, saying it would restore stability to Israel's coalition. The broad coalition government came as a political surprise that avoided an early election, postponing the next polls till October 2013.
By bringing in the centrist Kadima party led by former defence chief Mofaz, Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud, will have a government controlling 94 of parliament's 120 seats.
Earlier this month, Mofaz declared that re-launching talks will be based on 1967 borders, and that he will seek to meet with PA President Mahmoud Abbas to present the proposal to him. Mofaz's proposal coincided with recurrent leaks by Israel about ongoing secret talks between Saeb Ereikat, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, and an envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Most Palestinian spheres are still uncertain about the actuality of his intentions regarding the peace process. Mofaz himself has played a leading role in efforts to find legal formulae to legalise settlements that are built without permits from the Israeli government, and the Israeli Supreme Court has ordered their removal.
In a related development, Mofaz met with US National Security Advisor Tom Denilon, when Obama dropped in and joined the conversation for over a half hour, to discuss Middles Eastern issues of mutual concern such as the nuclear talks with Iran, the prospects of improving relations with Turkey, and the future of the Arab Spring.
Mofaz urged Obama to intensify sanctions against Iran after the failure of the latest round of nuclear talks this week between the Islamic republic and world power and consider the preparation for military action.
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