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Clinton pushes for peace talks with Israel’s Netanyahu

11 November 2010 20:29 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to discuss the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, APA reports quoting CNN.
"I have said repeatedly the prime minister and [Palestinian Authority] President [Mahmoud] Abbas are both very committed to the two-state solution and we are going to find a way forward," she said as their meeting began in New York.
"I would like to add," Netanyahu said, "that I would also like to broaden [talks] to many other Arab countries. It is our common goal. We are quite serious about doing it and we want to get on with it."
The meeting comes a day after Clinton said the United States is "deeply disappointed" with Israel’s decision to build new housing units in sensitive areas of east Jerusalem.
"This announcement was counterproductive to our efforts to resume negotiations between the parties," Clinton said Wednesday, stressing that both parties should avoid actions that might undermine trust, including action in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu also met Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, on Wednesday night, along with Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, a Cantor spokesman said Thursday.
Cantor "reiterated his belief that compromise between Israel and the Palestinians can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties," said the spokesman, Brad Dayspring. "A unilaterally declared Palestinian state will only create more distrust between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and move the process further away from peace," he said.
Cantor, who is Jewish, is one of the highest-ranking Republicans in the House.
Clinton made her remarks Wednesday at a joint press briefing with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, where she announced an additional $150 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority. Fayyad appeared at the briefing via a remote video conference from Ramallah in the West Bank.
Clinton expressed hope that the peace talks will continue, and said the United States will keep working to resume negotiations to address the housing issue, among others.
"We still believe a positive outcome is both possible and necessary," she said.
The Israeli government said Monday it is proceeding with plans for about 1,000 new housing units in east Jerusalem, a move that the chief Palestinian negotiator said would derail already suspended peace talks.
Construction of settlements in the West Bank, as well as new housing in east Jerusalem, have been criticized by the Palestinians, and such activity has been a stumbling block in the direct negotiations renewed by the Obama administration.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday criticized Israel’s plans to build in the disputed area.
"This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations," Obama told reporters while on a trip to Indonesia.
And Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told CNN that the announcement showed Israel is committed to the settlements at the cost of a possible peace agreement.
But Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying the construction has nothing to do with the settlement issue, since Jerusalem "is the capital of the state of Israel."
"Israel sees no link between the peace process and its development plans in Jerusalem," the statement read.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Wednesday that there is such a link, in that both parties are responsible for creating conditions for successful negotiations.
"So to suggest that this kind of announcement would not have an impact on the Palestinian side, I think, is incorrect," Crowley said.
Israel seized east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War, annexed the ancient city, and established the nation’s capital there. The international community, however, does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and embassies in the country have based themselves in Tel Aviv.
Palestinians envision the eastern part of the city as its future capital in a two-state solution.