OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Dmitry Medvedev has had to cancel a rare visit by a Russian president to Israel due to a strike at the Israeli foreign ministry, but working-level efforts to revive Middle East peace talks appear unaffected. Israeli President Shimon Peres apologized to Medvedev in a telephone call, saying such trips were not routine and that “there is no doubt that you and your country can contribute greatly to the Mideast peace process”. But the strike over pay and working conditions at the ministry, which has foiled three official visits by foreign leaders so far, seems to be having no direct impact on diplomacy aimed at resuscitating Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Senior US diplomats are due back in Israel in the coming days, and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was to have talks with Israeli ministers later on Wednesday. Moreover, a Kremlin spokesman in Moscow said Peres and Medvedev had agreed in lieu of the Israel trip to hold talks later this month at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. Medvedev will carry on as planned with visits this month to Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Peres' statement said he and Medvedev could discuss the status of the peace process in light of those meetings. However, the strike is biting just as the Israeli government is warily monitoring efforts by the Palestinian Authority to create alternative options in the international diplomatic arena should peace talks with Israel collapse irretrievably. The Palestinians are having some success in persuading states in Latin America that they already have all the attributes of a state and should be recognized as such. Israeli envoys are lobbying to arrest any potential domino effect that could finish off the languishing peace process.
