Merkel: Israel should not let Egypt chaos detract from progress of peace talks

Israel should not let the chaos in Egypt halt efforts to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday, but hinted that both sides could eventually opt for interim accords.

The situation in Egypt should not be seen as a reason not to continue the negotiation process. If we sit and wait, we might face an even more difficult situation, Merkel told a security conference during a two-day visit to Israel.

We have to achieve a two-state solution as soon as possible, she said, adding however that any peace deal might have to be agreed in stages rather than as part of a single, comprehensive treaty as often advocated by international powers.

Merkel said it was unacceptable that the Middle East peace negotiations had ground to a halt and urged Israel to bow to Palestinian demands to freeze Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank to revive the stalled talks. If, at the end of the day, a settlement freeze leads to peace, then that will outweigh the pain it might produce [in Israel], she said.

However, President Shimon Peres warned of the possible rise of religious dictatorships in the region.

U.S.-brokered efforts to bring about an end to the decades-old conflict ran aground last year when the Palestinians refused to return to the negotiating table unless Israel extended a moratorium on its settlement building.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has balked at the demand, saying no other Israeli leader has had to accept such a precondition for talks.

Merkel hinted that Israel and the Palestinians might have to opt for interim accords, rather than an all-embracing deal previously touted by the United States and its allies.

You dont have to settle all questions at the first stage. Perhaps borders and security could be the first stage, and it seems to me that you have already made big advances in this area, she said. Progress was being made, then there were the elections and things slowed down for some r! eason, M erkel said.

Everything would be so much easier and would go so much more smoothly if we made progress.

Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat urged the Middle East Quartet Tuesday to recognize a Palestinian state within 1967 borders when it meets later this week.

We call on the international Quartet take an historic decision to recognize the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders at its next meeting on Feb. 5 in Munich, Erakat said.

In order to bring security and stability in the Middle East, we must drain the swamp that is the Israeli occupation, which is the sole cause of all problems in the region, he said.

The Quartet Russia, the U.S., the EU and the U.N. meets Saturday to seek ways of reviving the peace talks.

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials said they were making preparations to hold long-postponed local elections as soon as possible. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told Palestinian television that intensive discussions are underway to set a date for the elections that had initially been set for July 2010.

Fayyad added that the Palestinians must think seriously about general elections as a way of reuniting the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Reuters, AFP