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Palestinians, Israel call on international community to help

The Palestinians and Israelis called on Tuesday for stepped up international support to reach a peace settlement by the end of the year, blaming each other for the recent upsurge in violence but agreeing that the current talks are the only route to end the decades-long conflict.

In separate speeches to the Security Council, Palestinian UN observer Riyad Mansour and Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman said their leaders' agreement in November to reach a peace settlement this year needs greater backing from the international community if it is to work.

Mansour said 110 days have passed since the US-hosted meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, where Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reached their agreement, but "instead of positive changes, we are seeing negative things on the ground."

Russia has offered to host a follow-up conference in Moscow and Mansour said such a meeting "is extremely needed and urgent" to revive the peace process. He said there was some discussion of the meeting taking place in June.

Gillerman said suspending the ongoing Olmert-Abbas talks would only play into the hands of extremists who want "to see our failure."

"Israel knows it cannot accomplish this alone," he said. "It needs the support of like-minded moderate leaders in the region that understand the threat posed by the extremists, not just to us but to them and to the world, and are willing to do what it takes."

Gillerman asked countries to demonstrate collective support for the negotiations toward a lasting peace for the region.

"This is the mandate of the international community. This is its calling. This is its duty," he said. "This collective resolve must be shown first and foremost by this council."

Gillerman did not mention a follow-up conference in Moscow. Israel is thought to be unenthusiastic about the meeting, partly because the focus would be on an Israeli-Palestinian settlement and not on Israel's dispute with Syria over the Golan Heights, which Russia might want on the agenda.
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