Swiss banks to root out undeclared funds
Amid a massive scandal involving France's former budget minister and an undeclared Swiss bank account, Swiss banks are more eager than ever to kick out tax cheats and clear their names, bankers and industry experts say.
Tax evasion has become "a real problem for Swiss banks, because it is damaging their reputation" an analyst with a large Zurich-based bank said, requesting anonymity.
"A few years ago, the banks saw taxation as the client's problem, but today, that has changed. It has become the bank's problem," he added.
A scandal surrounding former French budget minister Jerome Cahuzac, who last week was charged with tax fraud after admitting to having an undeclared foreign bank account, has not only sent shockwaves through the French political establishment, but also through the Swiss banking sector.
Cahuzac once in charge of tackling tax evasion has admitted to opening an undeclared Swiss bank account in 1992, and, after Switzerland pledged to cooperate with foreign tax authorities in 2009, transferring the some €600 000 to Singapore.
Switzerland with its cherished banking secrecy rules was long considered a prime destination for undeclared funds, but the country has recently been cracking down in a bid to clear its reputation as a tax haven.
"We are moving towards a model of (accepting only) declared funds, but I can't tell you how long or what shape it will take," a high-level executive at one of Switzerland's main banks said on condition of anonymity.
Under pressure from all sides, Swiss banks have gradually been trying to solve the problem, case by case, country by country.
After Washington a few years ago began aggressively going after Swiss banks enabling US clients to evade the taxman, a solution has been reached that basically blocks banks from hosting undeclared accounts for Americans.
And Switzerland reached agreements last year with Britain, Austria and Germany to ease its cherished bank secrecy and ensure that their nationals' holdings in Swiss banks were taxed.
The accords with London and Vienna took effect on January 1, but the German parliament ended up blocking that country's deal late last year, considering it too easy on tax cheats.
Banks have begun closing undeclared accounts
Even though the German deal fell through, two large Swiss banks, Credit Suisse and Julius Baer, have opted to start kicking out German clients who do refuse to declare their holdings back home.
While no measures have yet been announced when it comes to French nationals with Swiss bank accounts, Geneva tax attorney Philippe Kenel said he believed they would soon receive the same treatment as their German counterparts.
"The large Swiss banks first, and then the small ones, will begin closing French citizens' undeclared accounts," he predicted.
"This is already happening when it comes to German clients, and it will happen with French clients as well," he added.
A Geneva banker who asked not to be named agreed.
"What is clear today is that the number of clients with undeclared accounts will shrink," he said.
Closing the door on all tax-cheating clients could be painful exercise for a number of Swiss banks.
According to a banking law professor at the University of Geneva, who did not want his name published, more than half of the European funds stashed away in Swiss bank accounts are undeclared.
In practice, however, the Swiss banks can do little to weed out clients intent on cheating the system.
Demanding that all clients provide full tax returns from their home countries is considered mission impossible, due to the mountains of paperwork and since most clients would likely refuse outright, banking industry sources say.
Instead, banks are opting to have clients sign a document certifying that their tax papers are in order, and blindly trusting that they are telling the truth.
Cahuzac for instance reportedly handed over a "bogus" certificate to the Singapore branch of a wary Julius Baer bank, purportedly proving that his money had been declared to tax authorities.
Convinced that he was telling the truth, the bank had agreed to transfer his funds to Singapore.
According to the latest available statistics from Switzerland's central bank, Swiss banks in 2011 managed 31.78 billion Swiss francs for French clients.
That is not counting the some 2.55 billion Swiss francs that Swiss trusts handled for French nationals that year.
US economy 'still far' from desired state
Federal Reserve chairperson Ben Bernanke said on Monday that the US economy still has far to go to recover to an acceptable state of health.
"Today the economy is significantly stronger than it was four years ago, although conditions are clearly still far from where we would all like them to be," he said.
The statement, made in a speech on banking in Stone Mountain, Georgia, came as economists and investors seek signs on whether the US central bank is ready to tighten up its easy-money policy aimed at holding long-term interest rates down.
Since December the Fed has stuck to its ultra-low rates and its $85bn per month "quantitative easing" bond purchase program despite economic indicators that led many to believe the economy is picking up speed.
Bernanke has consistently tied tightening monetary policy to a substantial improvement in unemployment, with the rate currently 7.6%, and his statement echoed comments made in previous months that he was not satisfied with the pace of recovery.
On Friday the Labour Department reported that just 88 000 new jobs were generated in March, the slowest growth in nine months.
Families lobby Congress over gun control
Relatives of victims of the horrendous Connecticut school shootings are
mounting a face-to-face lobbying effort on Tuesday in hopes of turning around
enough lawmakers to gain a Senate floor vote on meaningful gun restrictions as
Senate Democrats approach a key decision on gun legislation.
Their effort follows President Barack Obama's remarks in Connecticut on Monday night on gun control, an issue catapulted into the national arena by December's gruesome slaying of 20 young children and six educators at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
"If you want the people you send to Washington to have just an iota of the courage that the educators at Sandy Hook showed when danger arrived on their doorstep, then we're all going to have to stand up," the president said.
Obama's proposals headlined by background checks for more gun buyers and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines have hit opposition from the nation's powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, and are struggling in Congress. Conservatives say they will use procedural tactics to try preventing the Senate from even debating firearms restrictions.
Underscoring the high emotional stakes, some Newtown families are in the Capitol lobbying senators to support gun restrictions, including 11 relatives Obama ferried back to Washington on aboard Air Force One after his speech.
The administration was continuing its efforts to pressure Republicans, with Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder making remarks on Tuesday at the White House, joined by law enforcement officials.
Shakier path
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are approaching decision time on whether they should try to get Republican support for expanding background checks for firearms sales or will follow the shakier path of pursuing the cornerstone of Obama's gun control effort on their own.
Democrats were holding a lunchtime meeting on Tuesday to assess whether to seek a compromise with Republicans or try the shakier path of trying to advance a gun control bill over opposition objections.
Party leaders were giving Democratic Senator Joe Manchin until later on Tuesday to complete the talks with Republican Senator Pat Toomey and see if they could reach an acceptable compromise.
An agreement between the two senators, both among the more conservative members of their parties, would boost efforts to expand background checks because it could attract bipartisan support. Abandoning those negotiations would put Democrats in a difficult position, making it hard for them to push a measure through the Senate and severely damaging Obama's gun control drive.
The administration was continuing its efforts to pressure Republicans, with Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder making remarks Tuesday at the White House, joined by law enforcement officials.
Majority Leader Harry Reid brought gun control legislation to the Senate floor on Monday, though actual debate did not begin. He took the step after receiving a letter from 13 conservative Republican senators who said they would use delaying tactics to try to prevent lawmakers from even beginning debate on the legislation. Such a move takes 60 votes to overcome, a difficult hurdle in the 100-member chamber.
Violation of Second Amendment
Further underscoring the tough road ahead for the Obama-backed legislation, a spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he would join the effort to block debate on the legislation if Reid tries to bring the measure to the floor.
There are 53 Senate Democrats and two independents who generally vote with them, meaning Republican support ultimately will be needed to reach 60 votes to move ahead.
The conservative senators said the Democratic measure would violate the Second Amendment of the US Constitution which guarantees the right to bear arms, citing "history's lesson that government cannot be in all places at all times, and history's warning about the oppression of a government that tries".
"Shame on them," responded Reid. "The least Republicans owe the parents of those 20 little babies who were murdered at Sandy Hook is a thoughtful debate about whether stronger laws could have saved their little girls and boys."
Their effort follows President Barack Obama's remarks in Connecticut on Monday night on gun control, an issue catapulted into the national arena by December's gruesome slaying of 20 young children and six educators at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
"If you want the people you send to Washington to have just an iota of the courage that the educators at Sandy Hook showed when danger arrived on their doorstep, then we're all going to have to stand up," the president said.
Obama's proposals headlined by background checks for more gun buyers and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines have hit opposition from the nation's powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, and are struggling in Congress. Conservatives say they will use procedural tactics to try preventing the Senate from even debating firearms restrictions.
Underscoring the high emotional stakes, some Newtown families are in the Capitol lobbying senators to support gun restrictions, including 11 relatives Obama ferried back to Washington on aboard Air Force One after his speech.
The administration was continuing its efforts to pressure Republicans, with Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder making remarks on Tuesday at the White House, joined by law enforcement officials.
Shakier path
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are approaching decision time on whether they should try to get Republican support for expanding background checks for firearms sales or will follow the shakier path of pursuing the cornerstone of Obama's gun control effort on their own.
Democrats were holding a lunchtime meeting on Tuesday to assess whether to seek a compromise with Republicans or try the shakier path of trying to advance a gun control bill over opposition objections.
Party leaders were giving Democratic Senator Joe Manchin until later on Tuesday to complete the talks with Republican Senator Pat Toomey and see if they could reach an acceptable compromise.
An agreement between the two senators, both among the more conservative members of their parties, would boost efforts to expand background checks because it could attract bipartisan support. Abandoning those negotiations would put Democrats in a difficult position, making it hard for them to push a measure through the Senate and severely damaging Obama's gun control drive.
The administration was continuing its efforts to pressure Republicans, with Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder making remarks Tuesday at the White House, joined by law enforcement officials.
Majority Leader Harry Reid brought gun control legislation to the Senate floor on Monday, though actual debate did not begin. He took the step after receiving a letter from 13 conservative Republican senators who said they would use delaying tactics to try to prevent lawmakers from even beginning debate on the legislation. Such a move takes 60 votes to overcome, a difficult hurdle in the 100-member chamber.
Violation of Second Amendment
Further underscoring the tough road ahead for the Obama-backed legislation, a spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he would join the effort to block debate on the legislation if Reid tries to bring the measure to the floor.
There are 53 Senate Democrats and two independents who generally vote with them, meaning Republican support ultimately will be needed to reach 60 votes to move ahead.
The conservative senators said the Democratic measure would violate the Second Amendment of the US Constitution which guarantees the right to bear arms, citing "history's lesson that government cannot be in all places at all times, and history's warning about the oppression of a government that tries".
"Shame on them," responded Reid. "The least Republicans owe the parents of those 20 little babies who were murdered at Sandy Hook is a thoughtful debate about whether stronger laws could have saved their little girls and boys."
N Korea urges foreigners to evacuate South
North Korea said on Tuesday the Korean peninsula was headed for
"thermo-nuclear" war and advised foreigners to consider leaving South Korea, as the UN chief warned of a potentially "uncontrollable"
situation.
Tuesday's advisory greeted largely with indifference followed a similar one last week to foreign embassies in Pyongyang, to consider evacuating by 10 April on the grounds war may break out.
"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a thermo-nuclear war," the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
Saying it did not want to see foreigners in South Korea "fall victim", the statement requested all foreign institutions, enterprises and tourists "to take measures for shelter and evacuation".
The committee blamed the heightened war risk on the "warmongering US" and its South Korean "puppets" who were intent on invasion.
The "thermo-nuclear war" threat has been wielded several times in recent months - most recently on 7 March - despite expert opinion that North Korea is nowhere near developing such an advanced nuclear device.
"It is our current assessment that there is no immediate risk to British nationals in South Korea," a British embassy spokesperson said, echoing similar statements from the US, French and other missions.
Rattling the investment market
Last week's warning to embassies in Pyongyang was also largely dismissed as empty rhetoric, with most governments making it clear they had no plans to withdraw personnel.
"It's almost comic," said Daniel Pinkston, a North Korea expert with the International Crisis Group.
"They want to rattle the investment market, create pressure and make people nervous.”
"But it's just not working. It's as if they didn't get a rise out of the embassies in Pyongyang, so they're just moving on to the next target," Pinkston said.
The South Korean stock market closed slightly up Tuesday, before the KCNA statement was published.
The Korean peninsula has been locked in a cycle of escalating military tensions since the North's third nuclear test in February, which drew toughened UN sanctions.
Dangerous level of tension
Pyongyang's bellicose rhetoric has reached fever pitch in recent weeks, with near-daily threats of attacks on US military bases and South Korea in response to ongoing South Korean-US military exercises.
Yonhap news agency Tuesday cited South Korean intelligence as saying the North had completed preparations for an expected missile test-launch - possibly to coincide with 15 April celebrations for the birthday of late founder Kim Il-Sung.
"Technically, it can fire off [a missile] tomorrow," it quoted a senior military official as saying.
Japan said on Tuesday it had deployed Patriot missiles in its capital as a pre-emptive defence measure.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said during a visit to Rome he had spoken to the Chinese leadership to try to calm tensions, and would discuss the issue with President Barack Obama on Thursday.
"The current level of tension is very dangerous, a small incident caused by miscalculation or misjudgement may create an uncontrollable situation," he said.
North’s action ‘very dissapointing’
However Tuesday's threat was unlikely to worry South Korea's foreign community of around 1.4 million that has calmly weathered the rhetorical storm thus far.
"A few months ago I would be worried but by now I think they're just trying to scare people," said Jone Geyskens, aged 21, a Belgian studying in Seoul.
"I know a lot of South Koreans, they don't seem to be scared."
Earlier on Tuesday North Korean workers followed Pyongyang's order to boycott the Kaesong joint industrial zone with South Korea, signalling the possible demise of the sole surviving symbol of cross-border reconciliation.
The North announced on Monday it was taking the unprecedented step of pulling out its 53 000 workers and shutting the complex down indefinitely.
Established in 2004, Kaesong has never closed before. Pyongyang's move reflects the depth of the current crisis, which has otherwise been notable more for fiery rhetoric than action.
Kaesong, 10km inside North Korea, is a crucial hard currency source for the impoverished North, mainly through its cut of the workers' wages.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said the North's action was "very disappointing" and displayed a total disregard for investment norms that would return to haunt Pyongyang in the future.
"If North Korea, under the full eyes of the international community, breaches international rules and promises like this, then there will be no country or company which will invest in North Korea," Park said.
Tuesday's advisory greeted largely with indifference followed a similar one last week to foreign embassies in Pyongyang, to consider evacuating by 10 April on the grounds war may break out.
"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a thermo-nuclear war," the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
Saying it did not want to see foreigners in South Korea "fall victim", the statement requested all foreign institutions, enterprises and tourists "to take measures for shelter and evacuation".
The committee blamed the heightened war risk on the "warmongering US" and its South Korean "puppets" who were intent on invasion.
The "thermo-nuclear war" threat has been wielded several times in recent months - most recently on 7 March - despite expert opinion that North Korea is nowhere near developing such an advanced nuclear device.
"It is our current assessment that there is no immediate risk to British nationals in South Korea," a British embassy spokesperson said, echoing similar statements from the US, French and other missions.
Rattling the investment market
Last week's warning to embassies in Pyongyang was also largely dismissed as empty rhetoric, with most governments making it clear they had no plans to withdraw personnel.
"It's almost comic," said Daniel Pinkston, a North Korea expert with the International Crisis Group.
"They want to rattle the investment market, create pressure and make people nervous.”
"But it's just not working. It's as if they didn't get a rise out of the embassies in Pyongyang, so they're just moving on to the next target," Pinkston said.
The South Korean stock market closed slightly up Tuesday, before the KCNA statement was published.
The Korean peninsula has been locked in a cycle of escalating military tensions since the North's third nuclear test in February, which drew toughened UN sanctions.
Dangerous level of tension
Pyongyang's bellicose rhetoric has reached fever pitch in recent weeks, with near-daily threats of attacks on US military bases and South Korea in response to ongoing South Korean-US military exercises.
Yonhap news agency Tuesday cited South Korean intelligence as saying the North had completed preparations for an expected missile test-launch - possibly to coincide with 15 April celebrations for the birthday of late founder Kim Il-Sung.
"Technically, it can fire off [a missile] tomorrow," it quoted a senior military official as saying.
Japan said on Tuesday it had deployed Patriot missiles in its capital as a pre-emptive defence measure.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said during a visit to Rome he had spoken to the Chinese leadership to try to calm tensions, and would discuss the issue with President Barack Obama on Thursday.
"The current level of tension is very dangerous, a small incident caused by miscalculation or misjudgement may create an uncontrollable situation," he said.
North’s action ‘very dissapointing’
However Tuesday's threat was unlikely to worry South Korea's foreign community of around 1.4 million that has calmly weathered the rhetorical storm thus far.
"A few months ago I would be worried but by now I think they're just trying to scare people," said Jone Geyskens, aged 21, a Belgian studying in Seoul.
"I know a lot of South Koreans, they don't seem to be scared."
Earlier on Tuesday North Korean workers followed Pyongyang's order to boycott the Kaesong joint industrial zone with South Korea, signalling the possible demise of the sole surviving symbol of cross-border reconciliation.
The North announced on Monday it was taking the unprecedented step of pulling out its 53 000 workers and shutting the complex down indefinitely.
Established in 2004, Kaesong has never closed before. Pyongyang's move reflects the depth of the current crisis, which has otherwise been notable more for fiery rhetoric than action.
Kaesong, 10km inside North Korea, is a crucial hard currency source for the impoverished North, mainly through its cut of the workers' wages.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said the North's action was "very disappointing" and displayed a total disregard for investment norms that would return to haunt Pyongyang in the future.
"If North Korea, under the full eyes of the international community, breaches international rules and promises like this, then there will be no country or company which will invest in North Korea," Park said.
Kerry ends Mideast trip with Israel talks
Top US diplomat John Kerry
met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday at the tail end of
three days of talks to piece together a plan for resuming Middle East peace negotiations.
During the visit, his second trip to the region in as many weeks, Kerry said he was pursuing a "quiet strategy" for ending decades of mistrust between the two sides, who have not met for direct talks since September 2010.
Netanyahu and Kerry met at David's Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, after what the secretary of state said were "very productive" dinner talks late on Monday.
"We made progress ... and each of us agreed to do some homework" with the aim of "seeing how we can really pull all of the pieces together", he told reporters as Netanyahu stood next to him.
"I'm determined not only to resume the peace process with the Palestinians, but to make a serious effort to end this conflict once and for all," the Israeli leader said.
Questions of "recognition and security" were key issues, he said, referring to Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
Uphill struggle
So far, Kerry has been tight-lipped on specifics but has said one area of focus is bolstering the teetering Palestinian economy, saying movement in areas like the economy "could be critical to changing perceptions and realities on the ground, all of which can contribute to forward momentum".
He is scheduled to leave for London mid-afternoon to attend a meeting of G8 foreign ministers.
But he looked set for an uphill struggle, with Israeli officials pessimistic his shuttle diplomacy would work, suggesting it would merely trigger a resurgence of the "blame game", public radio said.
Israel's army radio said Netanyahu's government would refuse a Palestinian request to hand over a map of the future borders and also dismissed the idea of making any "significant goodwill gestures" to convince the Palestinians to return to talks.
And it looked unlikely there would be any flexibility on the flashpoint issue of Jewish settlement building, with Housing Minister Uri Ariel ruling out any construction freeze in annexed east Jerusalem or the West Bank.
"We are building and we will continue to build everywhere," said the minister just hours after announcing that another 50 new homes would be built in east Jerusalem which would be earmarked for Holocaust survivors.
Return negotiations ruled out
Ariel belongs to the hardline pro-settler Jewish Home, which is one of the main partners in Netanyahu's rightwing coalition government.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has ruled out any return to negotiations while Israel continues to build on land they want for a future state.
Israel's top-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper said Kerry was trying to get the sides to sit down for a four-way meeting in Amman but until now Abbas had flatly refused "unless Israel first took some sort of meaningful action".
In talks with Kerry on Sunday, Abbas said securing Israel's agreement to release Palestinian prisoners was a "top priority" for resuming talks, and a top aide said he was also looking for Netanyahu's agreement that the 1967 lines would be the basis for negotiations - a condition rejected by the Israeli leader.
In parallel to Kerry's efforts, Arab states are also seeking ways of reviving peace moves, with Abbas attending a meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative committee in Doha on Monday.
The Arab Peace Initiative, first proposed in 2002 by Saudi King Abdullah, offers pan-Arab diplomatic recognition of Israel in return for an end to the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Hagel to visit Jerusalem
An API delegation is due to visit Washington at the end of this month for top-level talks.
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel is due to visit Jerusalem on 21 April on his first trip to the region since taking over as Pentagon chief, with talks set to focus on Iran's nuclear programme and the crisis in Syria, army radio said.
In a separate development, Turkey delayed talks with Israel over compensation the Jewish state will pay to the families of victims of a deadly 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, in a blow to diplomatic efforts by Kerry.
Talks were due to begin on 12 April, but were pushed back to 22 April, an Israeli official said, citing "logistical reasons".
Two weeks ago, Israel and Turkey patched up a nearly three-year diplomatic rift after Netanyahu apologised for a raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla which killed nine Turks, with Kerry on Sunday saying it was "imperative that the compensation component be fulfilled, that the ambassadors be returned".
During the visit, his second trip to the region in as many weeks, Kerry said he was pursuing a "quiet strategy" for ending decades of mistrust between the two sides, who have not met for direct talks since September 2010.
Netanyahu and Kerry met at David's Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning, after what the secretary of state said were "very productive" dinner talks late on Monday.
"We made progress ... and each of us agreed to do some homework" with the aim of "seeing how we can really pull all of the pieces together", he told reporters as Netanyahu stood next to him.
"I'm determined not only to resume the peace process with the Palestinians, but to make a serious effort to end this conflict once and for all," the Israeli leader said.
Questions of "recognition and security" were key issues, he said, referring to Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
Uphill struggle
So far, Kerry has been tight-lipped on specifics but has said one area of focus is bolstering the teetering Palestinian economy, saying movement in areas like the economy "could be critical to changing perceptions and realities on the ground, all of which can contribute to forward momentum".
He is scheduled to leave for London mid-afternoon to attend a meeting of G8 foreign ministers.
But he looked set for an uphill struggle, with Israeli officials pessimistic his shuttle diplomacy would work, suggesting it would merely trigger a resurgence of the "blame game", public radio said.
Israel's army radio said Netanyahu's government would refuse a Palestinian request to hand over a map of the future borders and also dismissed the idea of making any "significant goodwill gestures" to convince the Palestinians to return to talks.
And it looked unlikely there would be any flexibility on the flashpoint issue of Jewish settlement building, with Housing Minister Uri Ariel ruling out any construction freeze in annexed east Jerusalem or the West Bank.
"We are building and we will continue to build everywhere," said the minister just hours after announcing that another 50 new homes would be built in east Jerusalem which would be earmarked for Holocaust survivors.
Return negotiations ruled out
Ariel belongs to the hardline pro-settler Jewish Home, which is one of the main partners in Netanyahu's rightwing coalition government.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has ruled out any return to negotiations while Israel continues to build on land they want for a future state.
Israel's top-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper said Kerry was trying to get the sides to sit down for a four-way meeting in Amman but until now Abbas had flatly refused "unless Israel first took some sort of meaningful action".
In talks with Kerry on Sunday, Abbas said securing Israel's agreement to release Palestinian prisoners was a "top priority" for resuming talks, and a top aide said he was also looking for Netanyahu's agreement that the 1967 lines would be the basis for negotiations - a condition rejected by the Israeli leader.
In parallel to Kerry's efforts, Arab states are also seeking ways of reviving peace moves, with Abbas attending a meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative committee in Doha on Monday.
The Arab Peace Initiative, first proposed in 2002 by Saudi King Abdullah, offers pan-Arab diplomatic recognition of Israel in return for an end to the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Hagel to visit Jerusalem
An API delegation is due to visit Washington at the end of this month for top-level talks.
Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel is due to visit Jerusalem on 21 April on his first trip to the region since taking over as Pentagon chief, with talks set to focus on Iran's nuclear programme and the crisis in Syria, army radio said.
In a separate development, Turkey delayed talks with Israel over compensation the Jewish state will pay to the families of victims of a deadly 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, in a blow to diplomatic efforts by Kerry.
Talks were due to begin on 12 April, but were pushed back to 22 April, an Israeli official said, citing "logistical reasons".
Two weeks ago, Israel and Turkey patched up a nearly three-year diplomatic rift after Netanyahu apologised for a raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla which killed nine Turks, with Kerry on Sunday saying it was "imperative that the compensation component be fulfilled, that the ambassadors be returned".
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