NEW YORK — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday urged Arab nations to take steps toward normalizing relations with Israel and supporting the Palestinians in an effort to help restart stalled Mideast peace talks.
Clinton made the case with senior officials from Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. The session followed President Barack Obama’s talks last week with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
She told reporters afterward that the talks were “extremely productive.”
Officials said the Obama administration wants Arab states to make “tangible” and “credible” goodwill gestures toward Israel and provide political and economic support to Abbas to lay the groundwork for a resumption in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
The Associated Press
