Obama meets Peres as US pushes two-state solution

Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at 9:12 PM Posted by Beijing News


US President Barack Obama held his first summit with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres, as the US urged Israel to accept a two-state solution amid a new US push for Middle East peace.

Obama, who has made the Middle East one of the top priorities of his administration, has invited new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to Washington for talks in the coming weeks.

And in some of the most forceful language yet by the new administration, Vice President Joe Biden laid out Tuesday what Washington expects from its partners in the search for an elusive peace deal as Obama and Peres met here.

"Israel's security is non-negotiable. Period," Biden told the annual conference of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee AIPAC, which calls itself the most influential foreign policy lobby in Washington.

"But Israel has to work toward a two-state solution," Biden told the 6,500 delegates.

"You're not going to like my saying this but do not build more settlements, dismantle existing outposts and allow Palestinians freedom of movement," Biden told the audience, which nonetheless applauded him.

The US vice president also urged Arab states to start moving toward ending Israel's isolation.

"Now is the time for Arab states to make meaningful gestures to show the Israeli leadership and the people the promise of ending Israel's isolation in the region is real and genuine," Biden said.

Tuesday's White House talks were the first summit between the close allies since Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Israel's premier, and Obama took over in January as US president.

Netanyahu has so far refused to publicly endorse the creation of a Palestinian state, and has insisted on focusing efforts on strengthening the West Bank economy before engaging in negotiations on a final status agreement.

Peres said after the talks that Netanyahu had signed up to the commitments of the US-backed "road-map" when asked by reporters about the new Israeli administration's failure to so far endorse a two-state solution.

"Mr Netanyahu said he will abide by the commitments of the previous government," Peres said after the closed-door meeting.

"The previous government accepted the road map -- in the roadmap you will find the attitude to the two state solution."

A White House statement after the talks said the two had talked about "the opportunities and challenges including the pursuit of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East and Iran's nuclear program, that the present moment presents to achieving our countries' shared goal of peace and security for Israel and all of it neighbors."

Senator John Kerry, a fellow Democrat who replaced Biden as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made more specific pleas to the Arab states when he addressed AIPAC.

He urged Arab states to start "treating Israel like a normal country, ending the boycott, letting El Al airline fly over their countries and meeting Israel leaders."

He said "lack of support from Arab states" was a key reason that the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks failed in 2000 and degenerated into years of violence.

"Those requirements haven't changed," Gibbs told a press briefing.





A stuntman walks on a tightrope in China to break a world record. REUTERS/Stringer

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