U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat address reporters on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on July 30, 2013. Photo: State Department.

JNS.org – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to move forward with peace negotiations with the Palestinians despite Monday’s terror attack in which a police officer was killed on his way to a Passover seder with his family.

A meeting between the negotiating teams was pushed back from Wednesday evening and is now scheduled to take place Thursday. The Prime Minister’s Office did not comment on whether the delay was out of respect for the terror victim’s family or if it was simply to better suit the timing of U.S. special envoy Martin Indyk’s arrival in Israel.

The U.S. State Department expressed ongoing support for the peace process on Wednesday evening. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said that the “bottom line is both parties tell us they want negotiations to continue, and they’re searching for a path to do that.”

Palestinian Authority (PA) Religious Affairs Minister Mahmoud al-Habash warned of the talks’ collapse Wednesday during a joint press conference with a delegation of Israeli Members of Knesset in Ramallah. He added that if the situation remains the same, the PA is likely to fall apart by the end of the year, leaving Israel responsible for the consequences.