Скачать или смотреть Palestian reax as Israeli ministers cut contact with Palestinian counterparts; Ashton meets Abbas

(10 Apr 2014) A Palestinian official said on Thursday that an Israeli move to cut off contact with Palestinian ministers would have little practical impact, and described it as an Israeli attempt to "put pressure" on Palestinian negotiators working for a political solution to the conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his ministers on Wednesday to cut off contact with their Palestinian counterparts.
The move is the latest in a series of troubles plaguing floundering US-brokered peace talks.
Palestinian government spokesman Ihab Bsaiso said the Israeli move would have little practical impact because Palestinian and Israeli ministers rarely meet.
He said its aim was to "put extra pressure on the Palestinian leadership in its attempt to pursue the political path."
Under Netanyahu's order Wednesday, Israeli Cabinet ministers and their ministry directors can no longer meet Palestinian counterparts, although lower-level contacts will continue, according to an Israeli official.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the move was in retaliation for a Palestinian bid to join United Nations agencies, which the official said was a violation of the Palestinian commitment to the peace talks.
Israel's chief peace negotiator, Tzipi Livni, would be exempt from Netanyahu's order, suggesting the actual impact of the directive on the talks would be minimal, according to the official.
Also on Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Egyptian leaders and held talks with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Cairo to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks impasse.

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