VOA标准英语2009年-US Envoy Ends Israeli-Palestinian Meetings

By Luis Ramirez
Jerusalem
18 September 2009

 
US Mideast envoy¹ George Mitchell (L) meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in West Bank city of Ramallah, 18 Sep 2009
U.S. special envoy for the Middle East George Mitchell has left Israel and the Palestinian Territories with no agreement on restarting peace talks. The U.S. official was unable to bridge the gap between Israelis and Palestinians over the question of Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank.

U.S. President Barack Obama's envoy, George Mitchell, spent Friday shuttling between Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Ramallah, meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

With the Jewish New Year and the Muslim Eid holidays both approaching, time ran out on the U.S. envoy to press Washington's demand for Israel to freeze settlement construction. Mitchell had been in the region since Saturday.

His aim was to bridge the gap between Israelis, who want to continue expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the Palestinians, who want settlement construction to stop altogether.

Israel wants to go on building about 3,000 homes and limit construction for several months. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters on Friday the U.S. envoy had not convinced the Israelis to meet their demands.

"The senator informed us that there is not an agreement yet with the Israeli side," he said. "We appreciated the efforts being exerted by Senator Mitchell."

He indicated reporters there was no more reason to keep talking. "We once again reiterated² that there are no middle ground solutions for settlements.  A settlement freeze is a settlement freeze," said Erekat.

Mitchell left the meetings without making any statements.

One short-term aim was to arrange a summit with Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Abbas, and U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week. 

U.S. officials say mediation³ efforts will continue, and a meeting among Israeli, Palestinian, and U.S. leaders might still happen.

Palestinian officials, however, said they believe there would be little meaning to such a meeting if Israel does not agree to halt settlement construction.

The Palestinians say the existence of the West Bank settlements - home to about 300,000 Israelis - on land captured by Israel after winning the 1967 Arab Israeli war prevents them from establishing a viable⁴ state.

 

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

3 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

4 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。