REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, RAMALLAH - An aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators only had widened since talks began seven months ago.
US Secretary of State John Kerry wants both sides to agree to a framework for a peace deal — effectively ground rules for future negotiations — by April 29.
Mohammed Ishtayeh, the Abbas aide and former negotiator, said Thursday the US might seek an extension but that he doubts this will happen because of lack of common ground. Ishtayeh said a key obstacle was Israel's demand that the Palestinians accepted it as a Jewish state.
He said Abbas could not do so "under any circumstance" because it would restrict rights of Palestinian refugees and Israeli Arabs. Abbas is meeting March 17 with US President Barack Obama.
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