Israelis and Palestinians should accelerate peace efforts, Annan says

With Palestinians and Israelis gearing up for their respective elections, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is urging both parties to accelerate existing efforts to build peace and mutual trust.

“Their elections will have important repercussions on the peace process,” Mr. Annan said in a message to the United Nations Latin American and Caribbean Meeting on the Question of Palestine, being held in Caracas, Venezuela.

But he added that the parties must act on their obligations under the Road Map, an outline peace plan which aims to achieve two States – Israel and Palestine – living side by side within secure and internationally recognized borders.

“Palestinians need to know that the future viability of a Palestinian State will not be eroded by settlement activity and barrier construction. And Israelis need to be assured that their security will not be compromised by failure to act decisively against terror,” Mr. Annan said in the message, which was delivered by David McLachlan-Karr, the UN Resident Coordinator in Venezuela.

While acknowledging obstacles facing international efforts to engage the parties in political negotiations, the Secretary-General found signs of hope in Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank and the recent agreement on the Rafah crossing.

“These welcome developments, coupled with an end to the closure regime in the West Bank, could bring appreciable change to the daily suffering of ordinary Palestinians,” he said. That is why the Quartet, through its Special Envoy, James Wolfensohn, is working with both sides to ensure that the Rafah agreement is fully enforced.”

But Mr. Annan warned that in order to secure progress on broader issues, the parties must redouble their peace efforts. He reiterated the Quartet’s recent call for renewed action in parallel by both parties to meet their obligations under the Road Map. He also called on Israel to abide by legal obligations set forth in an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which called for an end to the construction of the separation barrier.

Pledging to work for a “comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the question of Palestine,” Mr. Annan said participants could help the parties move towards the shared goal of a sovereign, contiguous and democratic Palestine, living side by side in peace and security with Israel.