Following the Christmas and New Year holiday, diplomatic activity began anew on Tuesday with a meeting in Jerusalem between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Quartet envoy Tony Blair.
Blair told CNN Tuesday that it was imperative for substantial Israeli-Palestinian talks to begin soon, and that there was a "huge amount of work" taking place behind the scenes to jump-start the negotiations.
"We are talking about weeks, rather than months, for this process now to be rehabilitated and put back on track,If we don't go back and give credibility to this process in a meaningful way... we are going to be in genuine and profound trouble."
"I know some people in the International community will doubt this some times, but i believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu is completely sincere about wanting to do this...this deal, and get the negotiations going".
Regarding the PA's efforts to get international recognition of a state in the 1967 lines, and push for a UN Security Council resolution condemning the settlements, Blair said while this would place pressure on Israel, "the trouble with unilateral moves is that they are never as effective as agreed moves."
"The Obama administration is calibrating quite deliberately... the pressure they want to exert on both parties to get this to succeed with also finding a way forward that meets the political reality of the situation" .
