  {"id":201532,"date":"2014-03-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T18:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=201532"},"modified":"2019-03-12T18:11:30","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T18:11:30","slug":"auto-insert-201532","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-201532\/","title":{"rendered":"US Department of State daily press briefing &#8211; Middle East peace process &#8211; Non-UN document (excerpts)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div style=\"margin-left:40px;\">\n<hr height=\"7px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>Marie Harf<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>Deputy Spokesperson<br \/>\nDaily Press Briefing<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>Washington, DC<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>March 25, 2014<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">Index for Today&#39;s Briefing<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">\/&#8230;<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.state.gov\/r\/pa\/prs\/dpb\/2014\/03\/223275.htm\" style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\"><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.state.gov\/r\/pa\/prs\/dpb\/2014\/03\/223632.htm#MIDDLEEASTPEACE\" style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\"><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.state.gov\/r\/pa\/prs\/dpb\/2014\/03\/223805.htm#MIDDLEEASTPEACE\" style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\"><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.state.gov\/r\/pa\/prs\/dpb\/2014\/03\/223870.htm#MIDDLEEASTPEACE\" style=\"color:#0000ff;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\"><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.state.gov\/r\/pa\/prs\/dpb\/2014\/03\/223927.htm#MIDDLEEASTPEACE\" style=\"color:#0000ff;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\"><u>MIDDLE EAST PEACE\/REGION<\/u><\/a><span style=\"color:#000000;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"color:#000000;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"color:#000000;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\"><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<ul type=\"disc\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">\n<li style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">Arab League \/ Negotiations \/ Ambassador Indyk<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">\/&#8230;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.state.gov\/r\/pa\/prs\/dpb\/2014\/03\/223927.htm#ISRAEL\"><u>ISRAEL\/PALESTINIANS\/REGION<\/u><\/p>\n<p>Prisoner Releases <br \/>Secretary Travel Schedule <\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;color:#000000;padding-bottom:4px;text-align:left;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">\/&#8230;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;New topic?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;New topic, yes.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yes. You announced that the Secretary will visit Jordan to meet &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yes.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8212; with President Abbas today.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Tomorrow.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Tomorrow.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Tomorrow, sorry. And this timing is coming immediately after the end of the Arab League summit in Kuwait.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Mm-hmm. That&#8217;s true.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;What&#8217;s your expectations from the summit, the Arab summit. Are you expecting the Arab summit to ask President Abbas to continue in the negotiations after the end of next month?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Well, I haven&#8217;t heard from our team any specific expectations they have from the Arab League summit. Obviously, we&#8217;ve been in close touch with the Arab League throughout this process; they&#8217;re an important part of the process. I don&#8217;t know of any specific expectations. I think what the Secretary is doing is continuing to work to narrow the gaps &#8211; obviously, some still exist &#8211; and working on a framework.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">So I think every meeting he has is probably &#8211; you can say is &#8211; comes after an Arab League meeting or another meeting or somebody being in Washington, because he meets with them so frequently, but I think it&#8217;s just the latest in the discussions. We&#8217;ll see what comes out of the Arab League meeting though if we have more on that.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Marie, did you &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Do you think that if you don&#8217;t get this present &#8211; that the Israelis don&#8217;t make this prisoner release on Friday, that efforts at peacemaking will be all but stymied for the foreseeable future? Because President Abbas has said that if this benchmark goes through without the prisoner release, that he&#8217;ll end the negotiations and go to the United Nations.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Well, a few points. The first is that both parties agreed to negotiate for nine months, so I think we&#8217;re still certainly operating under that basis, and they&#8217;re still negotiating in good faith under that basis. Obviously, we&#8217;ve said both parties have had to make courageous decisions throughout this process to keep the negotiations going, and we certainly hope that will continue. And again, the Secretary is just about to have some more meetings, and we&#8217;ll see how those go.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Marie &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;What&#8217;s your understanding of which prisoners are going to be set for release or up for being released at the end of this week?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Let me check. I don&#8217;t have a breakdown of that.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Okay.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Let me check.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">Uh-huh.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Marie, have you heard the ambassador speak at the summit?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;I haven&#8217;t.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Because he said that Israel did not waste any opportunity to scuttle Secretary Kerry&#8217;s efforts. Do you agree &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Well, both parties are still at the table.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8212; with Abbas?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Both parties are still at the table having discussions with each other and with the Secretary and with Ambassador Indyk. So I think the proof is in what&#8217;s happening.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Do you consider these allegations to be inflammatory or provocative or anything like this, or not &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;I haven&#8217;t seen them, so I &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Or not in tandem with what&#8217;s going on?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Well, I haven&#8217;t seen them, so I don&#8217;t want to put a value judgment on them. But I will say that President Abbas has been very committed to this process throughout the whole process.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><span style=\"color:#000000;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color:#000000;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">&nbsp;Okay, and to follow up on Lisa&#8217;s question on the issue of the prisoners that are scheduled to be released on the 29<\/span><span style=\"color:#000000;font-size:5pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span style=\"color:#000000;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">. Now, Abbas, time and again, insisted that if this does not take place, no negotiation in the future will take place. Are you talking to him on that perhaps they need more time to release the prisoners and so on?<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;I&#8217;m not going to get into any of the specifics of what we&#8217;re talking about.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Okay. Let me just ask you just a quick follow-up &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Uh-huh.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8212; on the Israeli behavior. I mean, we have seen increased incessant violations of Palestinian camps and cities and so on. Today, this morning, as a matter of fact, the Israeli forces went into the Polytechnic University and beat up a guy, arrested him. They beat up a number of professors and so on, unprovoked. We have seen this pattern in the last few days. Are you talking with the Israelis about &#8211; as far as scaling back this very aggressive behavior in the last week or so?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;I&#8217;m not going to get into any of the specifics of discussions we&#8217;re having with either party. I&#8217;m just not going to.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Okay. Now, just to quickly follow up on the discussion that Mr. Abbas had with Martin Indyk, the American envoy Martin Indyk in Amman. Did he discuss with him, just to follow up on what Lisa &#8211; an extension of the talks?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;I&#8217;m going to say it for a third time. I&#8217;m not going to discuss what we discuss specifically with either party.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Marie &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yes, on peace process?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yeah. Why the U.S. is focused on talking to the Palestinian side only, not to the Israeli side?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;That&#8217;s not what I &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;We know that President Abbas was in Washington last week. He met with the President and with the Secretary Kerry &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;And Prime Minister Netanyahu was in Washington not too long before.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yeah, three weeks ago. And this is the second meeting in two weeks with Abbas after (inaudible) the Israelis.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;And I also said, if you heard my third line at the top, that Secretary Kerry will also be in touch with Prime Minister Netanyahu over the phone or video conference tomorrow as well.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Why he &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;He just &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Why he will be &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Why isn&#8217;t he coming to Rome &#8211; or to Amman, excuse me?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;He will be meeting with Abbas, not with the prime minister.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Well, he&#8217;s having conversations with the prime minister. They&#8217;re not in person, but they&#8217;re certainly detailed conversations. So he&#8217;s talking to both sides tomorrow. One happens to be in person. I wouldn&#8217;t read anything into that.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">Yes.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-bottom:4px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">\/&#8230;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Let me ask one on the &#8211; to go back to the peace process.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF: <\/strong>Uh-huh.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;I want to clarify. I just want to make sure I&#8217;m right in this. Am I right in remembering that the &#8211; it&#8217;s the U.S.&#8217;s understanding that the prisoner release and agreement was a part of the negotiating process? It was an agreed-upon part of the negotiating process at the beginning, same as the Palestinians not going to the UN while the negotiations were ongoing.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;What do you mean by &#8220;a part of the negotiating&#8221;? I&#8217;m sorry, what do you &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Well, that the &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;I just want to make sure I&#8217;m &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yeah. No, that the U.S. understood or believed that there would be some prisoner release as a part of the negotiations.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;That&#8217;s my understanding. Obviously, we&#8217;ve seen a few prisoners &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Right.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8212; prisoner releases during this time.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Right.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;But I want to be very careful and specific here, so let me check with them to see what &#8211; whether this is part of at the beginning or whether this has been talked about throughout again. Let me check with our &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Okay. Yeah. And then to &#8211; going back to that, because I think maybe one of the questions or the confusions is that I don&#8217;t think that some of these agreements &#8211; and maybe I&#8217;m wrong &#8211; were ever documented. Right?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;I have similar questions. So let me check with our folks and see sort of exactly what we were all sort of working on throughout this process and what that action means.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Thanks.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;padding-top:8px;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><span style=\"color:#000000;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color:#000000;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">&nbsp;Marie, on Lara&#8217;s point, Saeb Erekat last week claimed that on July 19<\/span><span style=\"color:#000000;font-size:5pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\"><sup>th<\/sup><\/span><span style=\"color:#000000;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">&nbsp;last year he reached an agreement with Secretary Kerry on the release of the prisoners. So it is not tied in any way to, let&#8217;s say, the nine-month period that was announced a little later.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Let me check on the details.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Okay.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;I agree they&#8217;re important questions &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;That&#8217;s what he said.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8212; and I just want to make sure I have all the facts there.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;He said that in public last Tuesday, as a matter of fact.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Well, there&#8217;s lots of things said in public. Let me check on that.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Okay.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yeah. What I&#8217;d like to know &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yeah.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8212; is what the U.S. understanding is.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;I &#8211; yeah. Understood.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Because I think Israel and Palestinian are &#8211; both have certain understandings of what the agreement was. I&#8217;d like to know &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yeah.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8212; what the U.S. understanding is.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;And it&#8217;s a totally fair question, and I want to make sure I have it totally right, as I always do. So let me check.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;And also &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yes.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8212; which prisoners. If it is &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Yes.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8212; the U.S. understanding, which prisoners &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Mm-hmm. Let me see what I can get.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;&#8212; were part of this first tranche.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Let me see if I can get some more for tomorrow on this.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Thanks.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Tolga.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Is this &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;I&#8217;m sorry. Do you have something on this? Yeah. And then &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Israel. Is the Secretary not going to Israel because the minister of defense didn&#8217;t apologize to him?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;No. I have not heard that was part of a decision at all here. Obviously, we think he should have. But no, I think there&#8217;s just travel schedules. And he&#8217;s going to Amman; he&#8217;s going to talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu over the phone. I think it&#8217;s a logistical &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;But Amman is too close to Israel.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;You guys are reading too much in here, where I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s any tea leaves to be read here. I think &#8211; he&#8217;s on this massive trip with the President, right, which has a lot of moving parts, too &#8211; wants to go to Rome, wanted to be part of the trip to Saudi Arabia, so obviously, I think it&#8217;s a logistical question.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;And he has to cross Israel to go to Jordan &#8212;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;I don&#8217;t know where &#8211; the flight route for our plane.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;Sorry, Marie. A (inaudible) the prisoners.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF: <\/strong>Uh-huh.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION:<\/strong>&nbsp;The Israelis are saying that the prisoners that are Israeli citizens will not be released. There was a demand that the Palestinians made that those Palestinians with Israeli citizenships that are in prison also be released. Do you have a position on this?<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>MS. HARF:<\/strong>&nbsp;Let me take all of the questions on the prisoner release and see what I can get you for tomorrow.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;padding-top:8px;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">\/&#8230;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align:left;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.state.gov\/r\/pa\/prs\/dpb\/2014\/03\/223927.htm\" style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:8pt;font-family:Verdana, san-serif;\">http:\/\/www.state.gov\/r\/pa\/prs\/dpb\/2014\/03\/223927.htm<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marie Harf Deputy Spokesperson Daily Press Briefing Washington, DC March 25, 2014 Index for Today&#39;s Briefing \/&#8230; MIDDLE EAST PEACE\/REGION&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Arab League \/ Negotiations \/ Ambassador Indyk \/&#8230; ISRAEL\/PALESTINIANS\/REGION Prisoner Releases Secretary Travel Schedule \/&#8230; QUESTION:&nbsp;New topic? MS. HARF:&nbsp;New topic, yes. QUESTION:&nbsp;Yes. You announced that the Secretary will visit Jordan to meet &#8212; MS. HARF:&nbsp;Yes. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-201532\/\"> [&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[897,2553],"document-category":[2197,2565,1869],"document-source":[],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1857,2181,1797,1905,2285],"entity":[1985],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-201532","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","country-israel","country-united-states-of-america","document-category-briefing","document-category-press-briefing","document-category-transcript","document-subject-incidents","document-subject-negotiations-and-agreements","document-subject-peace-process","document-subject-peace-proposals-and-efforts","document-subject-prisoners-and-detainees","entity-state","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/201532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/201532\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=201532"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=201532"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=201532"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=201532"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=201532"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=201532"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=201532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}