Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, instructed his envoy to peace talks, Yitzhak Molcho, to remain in the United States in an attempt to find a solution to the issue of settlement freeze in the occupied territories.Netanyahu said that “If the Palestinians want peace, they should not withdraw from the peace process even while Israel builds settlements”, and claimed that the Palestinians wasted a chance to resume the peace process when Israel declared the 10-month freeze on settlement activities.

Yet, Netanyahu said that he hopes a peace agreement would be signed within a year, and added that this issue is possible should the Palestinians decide to resume peace talks.

The Israeli Prime Minister contacted several world leaders in an attempt to convince them that peace talks can be resume amidst ongoing construction and expansion of settlements; some of the leaders Netanyahu contacted are U.S. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, Vice President, Joe Biden, and German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.

Meanwhile, spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State, stated that Washington is presenting a new proposal to the Israeli and Palestinian sides in an attempt to overcome the current idleness in peace talks resulting from the issue of settlements.

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