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Quartet cancels trip to Israel over bad timing

On Netanyahu’s behest, an international delegation of foreign ministers will not travel to Israel at this time as Palestinian terrorists run rampant through the country, and will postpone its efforts to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News
Palestinian rock-throwing terrorists. (Flash90)

Palestinian rock-throwing terrorists. (Flash90)

An international delegation of foreign ministers led by Secretary of State Kerry, which was slated to land in Israel on Wednesday in an effort to bring an end to the latest wave of Palestinian violence, has reportedly cancelled it arrival and has postponed its diplomatic efforts until an unknown date.

Representative were to be members of the Quartet– the US, European Union, Russia and the United Nations, which is tasked with resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through diplomatic mediation.

They were supposed to meet with National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen, Netanyahu’s adviser Yitzhak Molcho, and senior Foreign Ministry officials, as well as senior officials in the Palestinian Authority (PA).

They reportedly postponed their arrival at the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the time was not ripe for such a diplomatic venture.

“The Israelis told us that this is not a good time to talk about diplomatic matters,” a Western diplomat told Israel’s Haaretz. “Apparently they were also concerned that the visit of Quartet envoys would increase international pressure on Israel.”

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Over the last two days, Israeli officials declined to confirm that the visit was in fact scheduled.

Netanyahu spoke with Kerry on Friday night about the wave of Palestinian terror that has been plaguing Israel, and ways to restore calm in the country.

In her weekend conversation with Netanyahu, chief EU diplomat Federica Mogherini urged calm and restraint, and asked that he “avoid actions which would fuel the tensions even further,” the EU said in a statement. “Too many people have died already and too many families were left bereaved.”

She condemned the terror attacks on Israeli civilians, but emphasized that Israeli responses should “be proportionate.”