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Tony Blair: Restarting peace negotiations key to advancing Palestinian statehood

Tony Blair today said that restarting peace talks is key to advancing Palestinian statehood and long term Middle East peace, in an interview with Christiane Amanpour for ABC’s This Week.

As world leaders gather in New York to discuss the Palestinian’s push for full UN membership, the Quartet Representative to the region told ABC that he is continuing his push for a renewal of Middle East peace negotiations at the United Nations. He said:

“I understand why the Palestinians feel that they should go to the United Nations, and by the way, they're perfectly entitled to go there. But I think what we will be looking for over the next few days is a way of putting together something that allows their claims and legitimate aspirations for statehood to be recognized, whilst actually renewing the only thing that's going to produce a state -- which is a negotiation directly between the two sides.”

"I think it is possible to bridge the gaps and produce such a document and if we can do that then in a sense whatever happens with the United Nations happens in a less confrontational atmosphere, and could even happen in a way that helps the process of negotiations and statehood," said Tony Blair.

"Let's see if we can craft something that allows the Palestinians to come to the United Nations, to advance their aspirations for statehood that also at the same time allows us to develop a framework for negotiations so that they get back to talking," he told the "This Week" news programme.

On Sunday morning’s programme, Tony Blair told Christiane Amanpour that the Quartet is trying to talk the Palestinians out of the move, as "a way of avoiding a confrontation, a showdown. This week is all about advancing Palestinian statehood."

He added that any such deal with the Palestinians would essentially be "framework of reference for the negotiations... (and) some sense of a timeframe -- a timeline if you like -- for successful negotiations."

The Quartet is made up of the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations.