Kerry: Negotiations like a mosaic

U.S Secretary of State of John Kerry has said that any peace agreement that he helps devise, will be both “fair and balanced”. The sides involved in the process are however a long way from reaching an agreement.Kerry has stated that both Israeli as well as Palestinian leaders will have to make tough choices, if an agreement is to be made."In the end all of these core issues fit together like a mosaic, like a puzzle and you can't separate out one piece or another," the U.S Secretary said in Jerusalem on Sunday, relating to the ongoing negotiations. "We are now at a point where the choices narrow down, and the choices are obviously real and difficult," Kerry continued.US-brokered peace talks began in July after a three-year deadlock, and an initial deadline to reach an agreement has been set for April. The deal must address several core issues in the conflict, including borders, security, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees, Al Jazeera reports.Kerry has asked President Mahmoud Abbas to recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland during the last meeting between the two which Abbas has refused on the grounds that it would compromise the rights of Palestinians refugees and the Palestinian citizens of Israel.An Israeli minister has also stated that Israel rejects any security concessions for the Jordan Valley, an area constituting about 30 percent of the occupied West Bank that borders Jordan. The Israeli intelligence minister, Yuval Steinitz added to the point by saying that "security must remain in our hands. Anyone who proposes a solution in the Jordan Valley by deploying an international force, Palestinian police or technological means... does not understand the Middle East.”The current negotiations are scheduled to end in late March.