Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting on April 6, 2014 in Jerusalem/AFP
JERUSALEM, April 9- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his ministers to limit all but diplomatic and security contact with their Palestinian counterparts, an official said Wednesday, dealing another blow to faltering peace talks.
The move comes a day after US Secretary of State John Kerry, who kick started talks in July, blamed Israel for derailing the process by announcing new settlement homes in what he described as a “poof” moment in negotiations.
“In response to the Palestinian violation of their commitments under peace talks… Israel government ministers have been told to refrain from meeting their Palestinian counterparts,” the Israeli government official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Palestinian minister of labour Ahmad Majdalani dismissed the significance of Israel’s tactic.
“In any case there are no (regular) meetings organised between Palestinian and Israeli ministers, apart from the finance ministers,” he told AFP.
“Ninety percent of day to day dealings are done with the Israeli military administration” of the occupied West Bank, Majdalani added.
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