ISRAEL is still ready for direct talks with the Palestinians, but a meaningful programme is needed for the dialogue, Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Director-General Alexander Ben-Zvi said Monday.

“If there are direct negotiations, we can sit down with the Palestinians anywhere and talk. The main thing is not where to do it, but what to talk about.

“That is the question,.because you need some kind of program. After all, negotiations involve discussions of the parties’ proposals,” the diplomat said.

According to Ben-Zvi, Israel has already voiced its proposals twice – in 2000 and 2008 – offering the hand-over of large territories, exchange of territories and other options, but the Palestinians refused both times.

“After all, there is interior pressure in our country too, when the other side says ‘no’ to the offer to get most of the territories, then the question arises, what do they want?

“It is not a zero-sum game, it is the case when I give everything, and you give me nothing.

“If so, then there will be no agreement. In this case, it is not a win-win game, but a lose-lose game,” the diplomat said. (Sputnik/NAN)

– Mar. 5, 2018 @ 10:55 GMT |