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U.S. Officials Press Israeli Leader on Mideast Peace

[AP/Washington Post] Amy Teibel - Winding up a three-day trip after talks with President Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu met with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and held sessions with House and Senate leaders and a group of Jewish legislators. He also met with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters Tuesday that she reiterated the U.S. government's commitment to a two-state solution and its demand that Israel halt construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. "Underlying that commitment is the conviction that the Palestinians deserve a viable state," she said after her dinner with Netanyahu Monday. After a meeting with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Netanyahu said that the new thing emerging from his talks with Obama is that "not only Israel has to give but also the Palestinians and Arab countries, not at the end of the process but now. They have to take concrete steps to improve relations with Israel and to begin to set into motion reconciliation between Israel and the Arab world." Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry said he, too, had stressed to Netanyahu "the importance of Israel moving forward, especially in respect to the settlements issue." But he said he also told the Israeli leader that the issue was not "a one-way street" and that Arab steps toward joining the "regional roadmap" to peace were also critical.
2009-05-20 06:00:00
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