Will Israeli settlements torpedo peace talks?

In a telephone conversation with Arab League Secretary General  Amr Moussa on Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signaled his country's reluctance to start indirect peace talks with Israel "under the present circumstances".

Israel's announcement on Tuesday of plans to build 1,600 settler homes in East Jerusalem cast a shadow over the Arab League efforts to re-launch Middle East peacemaking, analysts say.

For his part, Moussa slammed Israel's persistent push for the settlement construction in East Jerusalem, which, he said, is out of sync with its geographic and demographic image. If Tel Aviv goes ahead with its drive , the two's peace talks may well prove irrelevant, Moussa warned.

In Moscow, Middle East expert Boris Dolgov says that this stern rhetoric is plain to comprehend:

Instead of offering at least several overtures to the Palestinian Autonomy ahead of the indirect talks, Israel unilaterally approved the construction of more settler homes in a move that may torpedo the parleys, Dolgov maintains.

The most important thing now is to try and prevent Israel from further continuing its settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, analysts say. They specifically cite EU Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton as urging Israel on Wednesday to immediately annul its decision on building 1,600 apartments in East Jerusalem. Tel Aviv should certainly refrain from making unilateral steps that ride roughshod over the Mideast peace talks, Lady Ashton cautioned.

In a commentary on Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry, in turn, also admonished Israel for the continuation of the settlement construction, which, the Ministry said, runs counter to international norms and  is fully out of tune with the bilateral peace talks that should, among other things, define a final status of Jerusalem. 

Now that the international community tries hard to add to more peaceful Middle East, Israel's unilateral steps are absolutely unacceptable, Moscow warns, urging more efforts to put the stalled Middle East peace talks back on track.