Peres: Israel should write its own peace plan

"If we don't want others to plan for us, we should do it ourselves," president says, in response to Obama's reported peace proposal.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Peres 311 reuters (photo credit: Reuters)
Peres 311 reuters
(photo credit: Reuters)
President Shimon Peres on Friday responded to the report of a peace plan that US President Barack Obama plans to present.
During a visit to the South, Peres said: "The plan was not publicized yet, and this is all speculation. It is too early to respond, but the best thing to do, if we don't want others to plan for us, we should write our own plan. If we do it, other people won't."
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"The problem isn't to propose a peace plan, but to actually make peace," Peres explained.
On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Obama's advisers are working to draft a fresh potential Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal.
The conceivable proposal will address the four major sticking points which have repeatedly foiled negotiations in the past three decades, the Times said. Those include the right of the return for Palestinian refugees, a desire which Obama will likely declare untenable, as well as the bifurcation of Jerusalem. Obama's plan was tipped to call for the division of Jerusalem, with the city serving as the capital of both states.
The Times report coincided with an interview US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave PBS, during which she called for the immediate resumption of peace talks.
In the interview, Clinton also denounced Palestinian efforts seeking unilateral declarations of statehood in the United Nations.
Clinton said that despite the unrest currently taking place in the Middle East, Israel and the Palestinians should realize the immediateness of the need to resume negotiations.