Differences between the Israeli and the Palestinians are too sharp to be settled by the two parties without "serious pressure" from the international community, a Russian political analyst said on Tuesday.
Georgy Mirsky from the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of World Economy and International Relations said strict measures should be applied toward Israel as all efforts taken so far by the international community to overcome the deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian relations have proven useless.
"The Israelis will do nothing themselves. Serious pressure is needed," the expert said, adding a "stick" should be applied toward Israel because the "carrot" approach has run its course.
An international conference headlined "Middle East 2020: Is the Comprehensive Settlement Possible?" is underway in Suweima, Jordan. The conference, organized by Russian News & Information Agency RIA Novosti and the Russian Council for Foreign and Defense Policy within the framework of the Valdai International Discussion Club, is discussing the Middle East settlement, global energy security, the strengthening the Non-proliferation regime, and a range of other international issues.
Mirsky described suggestions by some analysts to deploy international forces in the region as "totally absurd" because the Israelis "would never allow any international forces to be deployed" in the country. He said economic sanctions should rather be imposed on Israel to force it to stop settlement construction in Palestinian territories.
The expert said an independent Palestinian state and united authorities should be created as the first step to move the Middle East conflict off its steadfast center.
The issue of settlement construction in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, has been the main obstacle to reviving peace talks with the Palestinians.
Under the internationally agreed roadmap for Middle East peace, Israel is obliged to freeze construction and remove unauthorized outposts built since 2001 from the Palestinian territories.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in late November that construction would be limited in the West Bank, but not in East Jerusalem, which is also under Israeli occupation and which the Palestinians claim to be the capital of an independent Palestinian state. Netanyahu also said construction would resume in the future.
The Palestinian National Authority has refused to return to the negotiating table until the construction is completely halted.
Palestine's political situation remains strained as the region is ruled by two rival movements, Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which ousted Fatah from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007.
MOSCOW, December 22 (RIA Novosti)
