Peace efforts restarted after three years when Israel began to release 26 Palestinian prisoners. However diplomacy was overshadowed by Israeli proposals to buils 3,000+ new settler units, 900 in East Jerusalem. A senior PLO official said the proposed Jewish settler homes could ‘collapse’ the talks. A spokeswoman for Israel’s interior ministry said more approvals were needed and it could be years before building began. Israel's ‘Peace Now’ organisation disputed this, believing that construction could begin within weeks. A spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu said Palestinians shouldn’t be surprised - Israel had rejected Mr Abbas's demand for a freeze on settlement building as a precondition for talks. Abdullah Abdullah, a member of the legislative council and a supporter of Mr Abbas said Palestinians would not stay in the talks if Israel continued with the settlement surge. ‘We have other options.’ he said. US Secretary of State John Kerry hopes to achieve a peace deal within nine months.
Pray: for positive perseverance and cooperative clarifications by all involved in these negotiations. (Jer.30:10)