Netanyahu says peace deal, if reached, will be sent to national referendum

If peace talks with the Palestinians reach fruition, the results of such talks will be brought to a national referendum for ratification, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

Speaking at the weekly Cabinet session, which was held this Sunday at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem to mark 100 years since Begin’s birth, Netanyahu told the ministers that if an agreement is reached, he would put it to a national referendum vote.

„I believe that this is crucial; I don’t believe that decisions such as these can be taken – if a deal is reached – with one coalition or another, but rather this thing needs to be brought to the nation to decide,” Netanyahu said.

Israel is entering talks with honesty and integrity, Netanyahu said, adding that he hoped negotiations would be conducted responsibly and, at least at first, discretely.

Netanyahu went on to warn that negotiations will not be easy, saying that the resumption of the peace process was an essential interest of the State of Israel. He said further that Israel would have to find the right balance between preventing a binational state and preventing the establishment of an Iran-backed terror state.

Netanyahu’s comments signal that after three years of stalemate, peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are set to be renewed in the imminent future. The goal of the negotiations will be to reach a permanent agreement that brings an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At this stage, the terms of reference for the talks remain opaque, as neither the Israelis nor Palestinians are ready to divulge what formula they have agreed to.

On Friday night, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has visited the region six times over the past four months, held a press conference in Amman before flying back to the U.S. At the press conference, Kerry announced the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian talks.

„I am pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming direct final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis,” Kerry said „This is a significant and welcome step forward.”

Kerry praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for showing „courageous leadership.”

Kerry said that „if everything goes as expected,” Israeli-Palestinian negotiations would get underway in Washington „within the next week or so.” Israel will be represented at the initial meeting by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Netanyahu’s special envoy Yitzhak Molcho. Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator for the Palestinian Authority, will represent the Palestinians.

According the official announcement, the duration of the negotiations will be between nine months to a year. The Palestinians will enter the negotiations without preconditions, such as an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders, a declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of two states or a settlement construction freeze.

However, two Abbas aides, speaking anonymously, painted a different picture. They told The Times of London that Abbas had received a written guarantee from Kerry that the basis for the negotiations would be the 1967 borders and that Israel wouldn’t issue new tenders for settlement construction.

Israeli officials in Jerusalem denied making any such commitments.

The Palestinians pledged to not act against Israel in international institutions for the next nine months. The Prime Minister’s Office said this was significant, as the Palestinians had previously planned to seek statehood recognition at the U.N. in September.

The main Israeli concession was its consent to releasing 85 Palestinian prisoners, some with blood on their hands, who have been jailed since before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. The release will be conducted in stages as negotiations progress over the course of the year. None of the terrorists will be released before the start of talks. The first group, to include 40 prisoners, will be freed within six weeks of the start of negotiations. No Israeli Arab prisoners will be released.

After Shabbat ended on Saturday evening, Netanyahu released a statement on the renewal of negotiations.

„I view the resumption of the diplomatic process at this time as a vital strategic interest for Israel,” Netanyahu said. “It is important in and of itself in order to try and bring about the conclusion of the conflict between us and the Palestinians, and it is important in light of the strategic challenges that are before us, mainly from Iran and Syria.”

„I have in mind a number of objectives — preventing the creation of a binational state between the Jordan River and the sea, which will endanger the future of the Jewish state, and preventing the creation of another Iranian-backed terrorist state within Israel’s borders, which could no less endanger us.”

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon welcomed the renewal of negotiations, saying Israel has a genuine desire to reach an agreement that ends the conflict with the Palestinians.