'Direct talks before freeze ends'
LAST UPDATED: 07/07/2010 09:57
Defense minister calls Netanyahu-Obama meeting an "important step."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak meets with PA Prime Mi Photo: Ariel Hermoni / Defense Ministry
Defense
Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday called for direct negotiations with
the Palestinian Authority before the freeze on settlement construction
ends.
Speaking to Army Radio, Barak called Netanyahu's Tuesday
meeting with US President Barack Obama "an important step," and said
that hopes of peace had been reopened.
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Barak said that "the moment direct talks begin, all other obstacles will take
on the proper proportion."
"We shouldn't lose hope of the light at the end of the
tunnel and
we are entering a significant diplomatic process. The [US] president and
the prime minister wouldn't have started if it was going to be just a
nice photo op."
Referring
to freeze on settlement construction, Barak said that he "believes that
the main outcome of the meeting is to be open to direct talks before
the end of the freeze period.
"I think that once we were in direct talks, everything else, all the
other obstacles will take on the proper proportion. The main thing is
the question of whether these negotiations will have a result. There's a
long way to go."