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Obama Urges Palestinian, Arab Gestures towards Israel
[AFP/NASDAQ] President Barack Obama said Friday the U.S. had created the space and the atmosphere to restart Middle East peace talks, but urged Arab states and the Palestinians to make gestures toward Israel. After talks in Germany following a landmark speech in Egypt on Thursday to the Muslim world, Obama called on the key players in the region to make tough decisions, warning the U.S. couldn't make peace on its own. He said that he was "very sympathetic" to political pressures faced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his demand to stop settlement expansion on the West Bank. Obama said Arab states had to make "tough choices" on making concessions to Israel, and that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas had made some progress "but not enough."