WASHINGTON — Gingerly trying to advance Mideast peace, President Barack Obama on Thursday challenged Israel to stop settlement construction in the West Bank on the same day the Israelis rejected that demand.
Obama pushed Palestinians for progress, too, deepening his personal involvement.
“I am confident that we can move this process forward,” Obama said after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House.
The president said that means both sides must “meet the obligations that they’ve already committed to” — an element of the peace effort that has proved elusive for years.
Abbas told The Associated Press after the session with Obama that no meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are on the horizon. He said there are no preconditions for such a meeting but “obligations” on Israel through the so-called road map for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Abbas said he is meeting his commitments under the road map and that Israel should do the same. He cited continued settlement construction as a commitment Israel is not meeting.
Obama said he pressed Netanyahu on the settlement matter last week and that the Israeli leader needs to work through the issue with his own government.
The president also pushed Palestinians to hold up their end, including increased security in the West Bank to give Israelis confidence in their safety.
Obama said he told Abbas the Palestinians must find a way to halt the incitement of anti-Israeli sentiments that are sometimes expressed in schools, mosques and public arenas, calling them impediments to peace.
The Palestinian leader said, “We are fully committed to all of our obligations” under the peace framework known as the road map.
Doing so, Abbas said, is “the only way to achieve the durable, comprehensive and just peace that we need and desire in the Middle East.”
