Al Arabiya News Channel – “The president and prime minister had a constructive, 20-minute conversation,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement.
“The president reiterated the principal elements of his Cairo speech, including his commitment to Israel’s security. He indicated that he looked forward to hearing the prime minister’s upcoming speech outlining his views on peace and security.”
Netanyahu’s office said that the “discussions were positive and covered a range of subjects.”
“Mr Netanyahu indicated to (Obama) that he intends to make a political statement next week setting out the broad outlines of his government’s policy to secure peace and security,” it said in a statement.
Netanyahu said he is ready to meet Abbas and begin talks on economic, security and political issues, which he has not specified.
Palestinians have rejected his proposed shift of focus away from territorial issues, whose complexity, Netanyahu said, has frustrated U.S.-backed attempts to reach a final peace deal.
Abbas said renewed talks would be pointless unless Netanyahu first stopped settlement activity and endorsed Palestinian statehood as part of a 2003 peace “road map” that also calls on the Palestinian Authority to crack down on gunmen.
“If Israel rejects this and rejects the two-state solution, then, what shall we negotiate?” Abbas asked during a visit to a school in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
