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QUESTION: (Inaudible) as to what constitutes a viable Palestinian state? Because it seems that in Mr. Netanyahu's mind, a Palestinian state is completely demilitarized, it should not have control over its airspace, it should not according to WikiLeaks. So does the State Department, does the Government of the United States, have a clear definition as to what constitutes a viable Palestinian state?
MR. CROWLEY: We share the goal of the Palestinian Authority that there needs to be a Palestinian state and the borders of that state need to be viable. That has been our position. But that's why we're encouraging the parties to resume negotiations, because absent a negotiation, you cannot get to a viable state with recognized international borders. There's only one way to do this and that's through the direct negotiation that we continue to encourage both sides to resume as soon as possible.
QUESTION: But surely after like, 19 years of direct negotiations under the auspices of the United States, since 1991, you must have a picture of what this viability should look like.
MR. CROWLEY: Well, there's been a lot of work done here. I think we have a broad understanding of what this might look like. But ultimately, this is why the two sides have to sit down into a negotiation. Palestinians have their views, the Israelis have their views. The United States and others, we've done a lot of work on this. There have been negotiations in the past that enable us will inform negotiations should we get the parties back together again. But through this negotiation, that's how you get to a viable Palestinian state. If there are no negotiations, then we're not going to see a Palestinian state emerge. |
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Name(s:) |
Phillip J. Crowley |
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Title: |
Assistant Secretary |
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Agency(ies): |
Public Affairs, Department of State |
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Url: |
Url Link
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Archive: |
Archive Link
http://archive.is/TjJtD |
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