Palestinian chief negotiator says West Bank could fall to radicalism if John Kerry's plan is unsuccessful


Saeb Erekat said Israel’s refusal to agree even a basic agenda for peace threatened to scupper the Kerry initiative and the credibility of the Palestinian Authority’s policy of non-violence. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The Palestinian Authority has bound its survival to John Kerry's peace effort, warning that if the US secretary of state's campaign to draw Israeli and Palestinian leaders back to the negotiating table fails, the West Bank could fall to radicalism and violence.

Speaking from the site of the former Palestinian village of Latrun, which was destroyed by Israeli forces on 4 June 1967, the Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said Israel's refusal to agree even a basic agenda for peace threatened to scupper the Kerry initiative and the credibility of the Palestinian Authority's policy of non-violence.

"If people like us don't succeed to make peace with the Israeli government, what will the Palestinian people think?" he asked a group of international journalists and diplomats.

Describing Israel's ongoing settlement activity in the occupied West Bank as "a war crime", Erekat referred to the demolition of five homes in his Jordan Valley constituency on Tuesday morning as evidence of Israel's disingenuous engagement with Kerry's peace effort.

"Here is something for the Israeli people to think about, for that genius [the Israeli defence minister, Moshe] Ya'alon who is busy today making 60 people homeless in my hometown of Jericho, if we fail, what will come next?" he asked, adding: "Kerry's failure cannot be an option."

The US secretary of state, whose eight-week intensive push for the resumption of negotiations has so far gained little ground, has called on Israelis and Palestinians to "demonstrate leadership", warning that talks must resume within weeks if not days if the peace process, stalled since 2009, is to have any chance of success.

Among the crucial sticking points is Israel's refusal to agree to the Palestinian request to freeze its settlement activity. Israel views Palestinian preconditions as critical barriers to progress.

Stressing an urgent need for compromise when addressing American Jewish leaders on Monday, Kerry echoed Erekat's caution that the collapse of the peace process could signal the death of the Palestinian Authority.

"If that experiment is allowed to fail, ask yourselves: what will replace it? What will happen if the Palestinian economy implodes? If the Palestinian security forces dissolve? If the Palestinian Authority fails?" Kerry asked the American Jewish Committee Global Forum in Washington.

"Surely something much worse for Israel's interests and for America's and for the region."

A senior Israeli official, while admitting the collapse of the Palestinian Authority could be disastrous for regional security, questioned whether there was genuine danger of this transpiring or an effort to coerce Israel into making concession prior to negotiations.

"The emotional blackmail implicit in threatening us with implosion rings hollow," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Erekat would not be drawn into discussing a deadline for the resumption of talks but the 7 June deadline previously mooted by Palestinian officials appears to have been abandoned.

"Mr Kerry has not set a deadline but he told us he doesn't have more months to give. He doing anything in his power to expedite the process. Time is of the essence," Erekat revealed.

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