Defense Minister Ehud Barak met US Middle East envoy George Mitchell in Tel Aviv Thursday. In the hour-long meeting, Barak and Mitchell discussed ways of launching the proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and applying them as a catalyst for starting direct talks.Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also held discussions with Mitchell on both Wednesday and Thursday, but it remained unclear whether this was indeed the long-awaited start to US-mediated indirect talks.RELATEDAnalysis: Proximity’s silver lining?Landau: PA already planning breakdown of proximity talksAbbas gives talks four months
While Israel has said it agreed to the indirect proximity talks as a corridor into direct talks later, the Palestinian Authority is waiting for final approval from the PLO’s Central Committee.“Until now we can’t say whether there’s an agreement [to resume the talks] or not,” PA President Mahmoud Abbas said after meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Jordan on Wednesday.Herb Keinon and Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this story.
