Following the meeting between U.S. President, Barack Obama, and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said that direct Palestinian-Israeli talks will resume in the coming weeks.The sources added that Obama and Netanyahu discussed the means to advance proximity talks in order to move to direct talks.
The two leaders also held talks on Israel’s ongoing construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank, including constructions in occupied East Jerusalem, but refrained from commenting on the issue during the press conference that followed their meeting.
The meeting lasted for nearly forty minutes. Netanyahu said that “Israel is being pushed to make concessions while the Palestinian seriousness in not being examined”.
He added that, during direct talks, “the Palestinians must explain their stances regarding the Right of Return and the issue of declaring an end to the conflict”.
Obama described the meeting as excellent and successful, and that it boosted the relation between the two countries.
Sources close to Netanyahu said that the meeting gave a good push to mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries.
Furthermore, Israeli sources reported that Obama defended Israel’s military and strategic polices, and said that “due to the greatness of Israel, its history in the region, and the threats against it, it needs special needs and needs to be able to respond to any threat against it”.
Delegates accompanying Netanyahu said that Obama’s statements regarding Israel’s undeclared nuclear agenda were “very encouraging” as Obama refused any attempt to “single Israel out” during the International Atomic Energy Agency general conference this coming September.
Obama also stated that Israel is a country with “unique security needs”.
During the press conference the followed the meeting, Obama said that “there is no change in U.S. polices regarding nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
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Israeli Prime Minister meets with US President in Washington
Wed, 07 Jul 2010 04:51:13
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held a meeting on Tuesday with the US President Barack Obama, who voiced his support for Israel and Israeli policies, even as Israeli forces continue their occupation and seizure of Palestinian land in violation of international law.
According to reporters on the scene, Netanyahu invited Obama to visit Israel, to which the US President smiled and replied, ‘I’m ready.’
A number of critics of Israeli policy challenged the US President’s refusal to set clear criteria for Israel to adhere to before meeting with the Palestinian leadership for ‘peace talks’.
Richard Falk, a professor of international law emeritus at Princeton University and Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territories for the United Nations Human Rights Council said Tuesday: ‘If the American president believed that the rule of law applied to Israel he would certainly favor the establishment of an international inquiry, under UN auspices, to the flotilla incident of May 31, call for a total freeze on settlement construction and remind Israel that its settlement wall was declared illegal in 2005 by a 14-1 majority of the World Court, which also decreed that the wall should be dismantled and Palestinians compensated for all harm endured.’
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called for certain key demands to be met before he would agree to direct talks with the Israelis. He made the comment just hours after U-S President Barack Obama expressed hope for such talks.
