VOA标准英语2010年-US Pushes to Keep Middle East Peace Ta

The Middle East peace talks remain at a standstill as Israel considers a U.S. plan to extend a freeze on West Bank settlements in exchange for a number of incentives¹, including a squadron of advanced American warplanes. The U.S. Department of State says the Obama administration is working intensively with the Israelis and Palestinians in order to move toward negotiations² on all final status issues. Spokesman P.J. Crowley says the U.S. will do all it can to create conditions for both sides to have confidence to return to the talks.
"Our efforts are to get both parties back into direct negotiations as soon as possible," Crowley said. "We are engaged with the Israelis. We have engaged with the Palestinians."Crowley says the U.S. message to the Israelis and Palestinians is the same, "get back to direct negotiations, work through the core issues; and get to a just, fair and equitable³ settlement within 12 months."Elliott Abrams speaks with VOA's Susan Yackee:
Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told VOA it is unlikely the 2011 deadline suggested by the Obama administration will be met by the Israelis and Palestinians. "They have been negotiating for a very long time and they have not been able to overcome the differences on some critical issues like Jerusalem or security arrangements," said the former foreign policy advisor⁴ to U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. "It may be too optimistic to expect the Israelis and Palestinians to come to an agreement by 2011 on all issues which separate them when they have not yet started negotiations."Abrams told VOA he opposes the U.S. plan to provide American warplanes to Israel in exchange for an extended freeze on West Bank settlements even though he is not opposed to military aid to Israel.
"It is the linkage⁵." he says. "The Israeli agreement to extend their construction freeze in the West Bank by 90 days is now linked to a squadron of jets and to U.S. vetoes in the U.N. Security Council."Abrams believes neither of these linkages⁶ should be connected with the issue of a West Bank construction freeze by the Israelis. He said the U.S. should be making decisions in the Security Council on the basis of principle.
"If it is a bad resolution we should veto it," the Middle East scholar says. "Similiarly the U.S. should give Israel what it needs, but it should not be linked to a 90 day extension of the freeze."VOA asked Abrams if he thinks the U.S. will offer the Palestinians something to counter its offer to the Israelis.
"We in the U.S. are in favor of establishing a Palestinian state," he says, "and they (Palestinians) would be the main beneficiary of returning to the negotiating table, yet they are the one refusing to go to the negotiating table."Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he opposes a return to peace negotiations until Israel halts all settlement building on the land where the Palestinians aim to found their state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far resisted calls to freeze settlement construction. Restrictions⁷ he imposed for 10 months on West Bank settlement building expired in late September.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

1 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。

4 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

5 linkage   

n.连接；环节

参考例句：

• In their monographic treatment of linkage,they have emphasized this especially.他们在论连锁的专题文章中特别强调了这点。
• Occasionally,problems with block inheritance or linkage are encountered.有时会遇到区段遗传或连锁问题。

6 linkages   

n.连接( linkage的名词复数 )；结合；联系；联动装置

参考例句：

• Only the thermosetting resins provide a strong cohesive forces; this is due to molecular cross linkages. 只有热固性树脂具有巨大的凝聚力，这是由于分子交错链所造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The linkages between the stable units must be as near as possible of equal stability. 稳定链节之间的键必须有尽可能接近的稳定性。 来自辞典例句

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制