JERICHO — Israel's demand to keep control of the West Bank's Jordan Valley for 40 more years in the event of a peace deal is driven by economic interests, not security concerns, the chief Palestinian negotiator said Thursday. Saeb Erekat made the comments during a tour of the valley for foreign diplomats and reporters. The Palestinians view the sparsely populated area, which borders Jordan, as the breadbasket of their future state, while Israel considers it a security buffer. Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the terms of a Palestinian state resumed last month, and both sides promised US Secretary of State John Kerry not to discuss the content of the negotiations for the time being. However, Palestinian officials close to the talks have said Israel proposed to keep control of the valley and of West Bank border crossings with Jordan for 40 years after a Palestinian state is established. The Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. The Erekat-led tour started out in the valley's Palestinian-run town of Jericho, where he lives, and headed north, passing a string of Israeli farming settlements where dates, flowers, herbs and other produce are grown for export. Erekat claimed that Israeli settlements in the valley had an estimated income of $612 million in 2012, but did not say what the figure was based on. — Reuters
