PLO official: US ideas for peace deal fall short

Ideas floated by Washington so far for an Israeli-Palestinian peace framework don't provide a basis for serious talks, a Palestinian official said today, signaling continued deadlock as an April deadline approaches.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has not yet presented his final vision, but he has raised ideas in meetings with the two sides. The framework would outline the final deal on setting up a Palestinian state next to Israel.
The framework is expected to say that the new border will be based on Israel's pre-1967 war frontier, with some modifications.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in that war, lands the Palestinians want for their state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far not recognized the 1967 lines as a basis for negotiations.

Palestinian officials have expressed concern that the US will attempt a trade-off and, in exchange for Israel's recognition of the 1967 lines, demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people.
Netanyahu insists on such recognition, arguing that this would offer reassurances that the Palestinians are ready for genuine peace.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior PLO official, said today that the Palestinians are not encouraged by what they have heard so far.
She told reporters that "if the (Kerry) document is so far as we have seen ... Then it is not even a starting point."
Ashrawi said it's not clear whether the Palestinians will leave the talks or accept an extension if there is no agreement on key issues by the end of April, the target date for an agreement set by Kerry when talks resumed in late July.

Each side fears being blamed if Kerry's mission fails. Kerry could try to avert a crisis by seeking to extend the talks and allowing both sides to express reservations about the framework at the risk of gutting it of its meaning.