Israeli foreign minister: No peace deal now

JERUSALEM — Israel’s foreign minister declared Thursday that there is no chance of reaching a final accord with the Palestinians any time soon, casting a pall over the U.S. Mideast envoy’s latest effort to get peace talks moving again.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman suggested that the two sides come up with a long-term interim arrangement that would ensure prosperity, security and stability. He recommended leaving the toughest issues — such as the status of disputed Jerusalem and a solution for Palestinian refugees who lost homes amid war — “to a much later stage.”

He did not elaborate or give a timeline.

“Anyone who says that within the next few years an agreement can be reached ending the conflict … simply doesn’t understand the situation and spreads delusions, ultimately leading to disappointments and an all-out confrontation here,” Lieberman told Israel Radio.

Other conflicts have been defused with the sides making a “dramatic decision” to renounce violence and enter into a period of calm that would allow an accord, Lieberman said.

“People have learned to live with it,” he said.

Lieberman’s suggestion will not necessary translate into peace policy, which is set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s office wouldn’t comment when asked if Lieberman’s comments reflected his opinion or government policy. But other senior Netanyahu confidants share similarly skeptical views on peacemaking.

Lieberman’s approach runs counter to U.S. efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal quickly. The Palestinians have said they will not agree to an interim peace deal that would put off a resolution of the conflict indefinitely.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will tell visiting U.S. envoy George Mitchell that he will not resume peace talks until Israel freezes settlement expansion and the two sides set out a clear agenda for resumed peacemaking, according to Jibril Rajoub, a key member of Abbas’ Fatah Party.

Abbas could be hard-pressed to back down because of the furor he has unleashed at home by suspending efforts to bring Israel before a war crimes tribunal in connection with its winter war in the Gaza Strip.

Nearly 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the war, including hundreds of civilians. Israel, which lost 13 civilians and soldiers in the war, launched the campaign to end years of Hamas rocket fire on Israeli border towns.

President Barack Obama brought Abbas and Netanyahu together in New York last month in an effort to jump-start talks that broke down months ago. So far, no breakthroughs have been announced.

Since the New York summit, Mitchell met with representatives of Netanyahu and Abbas in the United States, before returning to the region this week. He had meetings with Lieberman and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak lined up on Thursday and with Netanyahu and Abbas on Friday.

While Lieberman was speaking pessimistically about efforts to reach a deal, Mitchell was doggedly pressing ahead.

“We’re going to continue with our efforts to achieve an early relaunch of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, because we believe that’s an essential step toward achieving the comprehensive (Mideast) peace to which I earlier referred,” he told reporters as he entered a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

In an interview with the Israeli Haaretz daily, Jordan’s King Abdullah II also warned of further stagnation in peace talks, saying that because of the impasse “we are sliding back into the darkness.”

Mitchell has been laboring for months to pressure Israel to curb settlement construction. Israel has agreed to limited and temporary restrictions on building in the West Bank, but has resisted a total freeze. It has rejected any limitations on construction in east Jerusalem.

The Palestinians want the West Bank and east Jerusalem for part of their future state, along with the Gaza Strip, now ruled by Islamic Hamas militants.