Kerry evokes memories of Rabin to push peace talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry evoked painful and haunting memories of Israel's slain prime minister Yitzhak Rabin to urge Israelis and Palestinians to find the courage needed to reach a long-elusive peace deal.
With peace negotiations appearing to stumble, Kerry arrived in Israel yesterday on a new mission to bring the two sides together.
But only a few hours after his arrival, the Palestinians said they would refuse to continue participating in direct talks as long as Israel fails to halt settlement building.
In a dramatic, symbolic message, Kerry headed first for the Tel Aviv square where Rabin was assassinated 18 years ago to honour the memory of "a great man of peace".

Rabin, who memorably shook hands with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn, was gunned down on November 4, 1995 by a right-wing Israeli extremist opposed to concessions in the peace talks.
Laying a wreath at a memorial in the square, Kerry recalled how just before he was shot, Rabin had been singing a song of peace with President Shimon Peres.

"We are now 18 years since that moment and it is clear that we need voices ready to sing a song of peace, loudly, with courage, with the same determination prime minister Rabin showed with his quest for peace," Kerry said.

"He dared to take the risks for peace, not just because it was important to take the risks, but that it was vital to secure the future of Israel and the region."
He was flanked by Rabin's daughter, Dalia Rabin-Pelossof, and grand-daughter, Noa Rothman, who was 18 when she lost her grandfather and whose poignant eulogy at his funeral won hearts around the world.
Kerry's words were clearly a message ahead of his talks Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Peres in Jerusalem, and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Bethlehem.
But a senior Palestinian official, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP that the Palestinians would refuse to continue at the talks as long as Jewish settlement on the West Bank proliferates.

"The Israeli side is determined to continue its settlement and we cannot continue negotiations under these unprecedented settlement attacks," he said.