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Kerry Plan Focuses on Jordan Valley

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposed economic plan for the West Bank appears to be focused on turning over large parts of the Jordan Valley to direct Palestinian rule.
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MAY 23:  (ISRAEL OUT) US Secretary of State John Kerry ahead of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 23, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel. This is Kerry's fourth visit to the country in the past two months and British Foreign Secretary William Hague is due to meet him to renew peace talks between Israel and Palestine. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

The US efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations continue to face obstacles, but this has not stopped a continuous trickle of information and leaks about some of the major details of the proposed talks. 

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saed Erekat told the Voice of Palestine Thursday, May 30 that US Secretary of State John Kerry’s plans have three parallel tracks. According to Erekat, the Kerry plan has a political track, a security track and an economic one. While the appointment of Gen. John Allen appears to shine some light on the security track and Kerry’s speech at the WEF conference hints the economic track, little information has come out in regard to the political track. Both Israelis and Palestinians seem stuck on the reference point of the peace talks. Palestinians want the talks to be based on the concept of a two-state solution, while Israel considers such a commitment before the talks to be a precondition it is not willing to accept.

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