07/19/2013
US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Photo: REUTERS
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama spoke by
telephone on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
urged him to resume peace talks with Palestinians, the White House said
in a statement.
The telephone call was part of regular consultations between the two leaders, the White House said, but came as US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the region to try to help restart talks that stalled in 2010.
"The President encouraged Prime Minister Netanyahu to continue to work with Secretary Kerry to resume negotiations with the Palestinians as soon as possible," the White House said, noting the leaders also talked about security issues in Egypt, Iran and Syria.
A senior State Department official said Kerry would consult both sides again on Friday - it was not clear whether that would be in person or on the telephone - before going home.
The US State Department on Thursday played down reports that an agreement was at hand, saying there were currently no plans to announce a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks.
"It is appropriate and encouraging that there is such a serious debate about these issues," the senior US official said in a brief emailed comment as the Palestinian discussions continued. "We understand that there are many strongly held views and appreciate efforts to find a basis to move forward."
Palestinians put off a decision on Thursday on whether to resume peace talks, with a senior official saying Israel needed to meet their terms before negotiations could resume.
The Palestinian stance suggested that Kerry's sixth peacemaking visit to the region since March was likely to end inconclusively on Friday, when an aide said he would fly home after talking to both sides once more.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and fellow Palestine Liberation Organization leaders discussed the issues in Ramallah and it became clear after two lengthy meetings that the Palestinians did not feel able to resume talks for now but were open to further discussions with Kerry.
"(Palestinian chief negotiator) Saeb Erekat will meet Mr. Kerry in Amman on Friday and he will tell him the return to negotiations should be based on the two-state solution and the 1967 borders and that Israel should accept and recognize that," said a senior Palestinian official close to the debate.
"Saeb will also say the Palestinian leadership sought more clarifications on Kerry's proposal in relation to the issues of prisoners and settlements," he added, referring to the Palestinians' desire for Israel to release Palestinian prisoners and to stop building Jewish settlements on occupied land.
Negotiations, which have ebbed and flowed over two decades, last broke down in 2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlement building on land in the West Bank and east Jerusalem that it seized during the 1967 war.
The Palestinians want that land for an independent state and have demanded a halt to all settlement building before they are willing to resume talks, although there are signs they may be becoming resigned to softening that position.
Netanyahu, whose rightist coalition government includes parties that back Jewish settlers on the West Bank and in east Jerusalem, says he wants to start peace talks immediately, but without preconditions.
Kerry has given no details on where he believes the two sides might give ground, although after talks with Abbas in Jordan on Wednesday, he said the gaps had narrowed "very significantly".
The telephone call was part of regular consultations between the two leaders, the White House said, but came as US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the region to try to help restart talks that stalled in 2010.
"The President encouraged Prime Minister Netanyahu to continue to work with Secretary Kerry to resume negotiations with the Palestinians as soon as possible," the White House said, noting the leaders also talked about security issues in Egypt, Iran and Syria.
A senior State Department official said Kerry would consult both sides again on Friday - it was not clear whether that would be in person or on the telephone - before going home.
The US State Department on Thursday played down reports that an agreement was at hand, saying there were currently no plans to announce a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks.
"It is appropriate and encouraging that there is such a serious debate about these issues," the senior US official said in a brief emailed comment as the Palestinian discussions continued. "We understand that there are many strongly held views and appreciate efforts to find a basis to move forward."
Palestinians put off a decision on Thursday on whether to resume peace talks, with a senior official saying Israel needed to meet their terms before negotiations could resume.
The Palestinian stance suggested that Kerry's sixth peacemaking visit to the region since March was likely to end inconclusively on Friday, when an aide said he would fly home after talking to both sides once more.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and fellow Palestine Liberation Organization leaders discussed the issues in Ramallah and it became clear after two lengthy meetings that the Palestinians did not feel able to resume talks for now but were open to further discussions with Kerry.
"(Palestinian chief negotiator) Saeb Erekat will meet Mr. Kerry in Amman on Friday and he will tell him the return to negotiations should be based on the two-state solution and the 1967 borders and that Israel should accept and recognize that," said a senior Palestinian official close to the debate.
"Saeb will also say the Palestinian leadership sought more clarifications on Kerry's proposal in relation to the issues of prisoners and settlements," he added, referring to the Palestinians' desire for Israel to release Palestinian prisoners and to stop building Jewish settlements on occupied land.
Negotiations, which have ebbed and flowed over two decades, last broke down in 2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlement building on land in the West Bank and east Jerusalem that it seized during the 1967 war.
The Palestinians want that land for an independent state and have demanded a halt to all settlement building before they are willing to resume talks, although there are signs they may be becoming resigned to softening that position.
Netanyahu, whose rightist coalition government includes parties that back Jewish settlers on the West Bank and in east Jerusalem, says he wants to start peace talks immediately, but without preconditions.
Kerry has given no details on where he believes the two sides might give ground, although after talks with Abbas in Jordan on Wednesday, he said the gaps had narrowed "very significantly".
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