Saturday, June 27, 2009 TRIESTE: A deal on a two-state solution in Palestine could be within reach if Israel compromises on issues such as halting settlement expansion, said envoy to the region and former British prime minister Tony Blair.Blair -- regional mediator for the Middle East peace Quartet that groups the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union -- said hardline Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu could be in a strong domestic position to deliver concessions, if he was willing to do so.A statement from the Quartet, which met on the sidelines of a G8 foreign ministers' meeting in northern Italy, called for Israel to halt all settlement activities and for Palestinians to combat violent extremism."There is a virtual consensus across the international community not just as to what needs to happen, but how...which was not the case a couple of years ago," Blair told media."If Israel were to join that, we could get an agreement and an agreement in my view that protects completely the state of Israel."Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians could resume soon, Blair said, but the process was at a delicate stage as foreign powers stepped up calls on Jerusalem to ensure a Palestinian state would not be undermined by settlements.
Saturday, June 27, 2009 TRIESTE: A deal on a two-state solution in Palestine could be within reach if Israel compromises on issues such as halting settlement expansion, said envoy to the region and former British prime minister Tony Blair.Blair -- regional mediator for the Middle East peace Quartet that groups the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union -- said hardline Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu could be in a strong domestic position to deliver concessions, if he was willing to do so.A statement from the Quartet, which met on the sidelines of a G8 foreign ministers' meeting in northern Italy, called for Israel to halt all settlement activities and for Palestinians to combat violent extremism."There is a virtual consensus across the international community not just as to what needs to happen, but how...which was not the case a couple of years ago," Blair told media."If Israel were to join that, we could get an agreement and an agreement in my view that protects completely the state of Israel."Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians could resume soon, Blair said, but the process was at a delicate stage as foreign powers stepped up calls on Jerusalem to ensure a Palestinian state would not be undermined by settlements.
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