Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met US President Barack Obama on Thursday to urge stronger US pressure on Israel to halt settlement building.
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| US calls for total settlement freeze ahead of Abbas meeting / Yitzhak Benhorin |
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Obama administration continues to demonstrate involvement in Mideast political process ahead of Palestinian President Abbas' visit to Washington, Secretary of State Clinton steps up rhetoric against Israeli settlements in West Bank |
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Abbas planned to make his case for a tougher US approach toward Netanyahu.
Obama's secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, offered support on Wednesday for the Palestinian demand that Netanyahu impose a total freeze on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
She said Obama would "press the point" that all settlement activity must stop, including the "natural growth" of existing outposts that Netanyahu has vowed to continue.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev responded by reasserting Netanyahu's intention to allow some further construction to accommodate the expansion of settler families.
"Israel ... will abide by its commitments not to build new settlements and to dismantle unauthorized outposts," he said in Jerusalem. But, as for existing settlements, he said "normal life must be allowed to continue in these communities."
Even as policy differences have exposed a rare US-Israeli rift, it remains unclear how hard Obama is willing to push the Jewish state to make concessions when his administration has yet to complete its Middle East strategy.
Obama, who has reaffirmed US support for a two-state solution, sees engagement in Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking as crucial to repairing America's image in the Muslim world and drawing moderate Arab states into a united front against Iran.
On the eve of Abbas's visit, Netanyahu said in Jerusalem that the Palestinians must also be pressed to meet their commitments, including cracking down on militants, under a 2003 peace 'Road Map'.
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