WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and her aides worked Monday to salvage Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and cajoling Palestinian leaders angered by Israel’s decision to build 1,600 dwellings in east Jerusalem.
The effort took on new urgency against the backdrop of fresh violence on the West Bank, and a dispute over Jewish settlements that’s prompted the worst friction between the United States and Israel in almost 20 years.
In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful pro-Israel lobby, Clinton mixed strong words of support for Israel with continued criticism of its construction in east Jerusalem, also claimed by the Palestinians.
In response to U.S. demands, she said, Netanyahu has “responded with specific actions Israel is prepared to take. . . . We will follow up on these discussions and seek a common understanding about the most productive way forward.”
Netanyahu, who will meet with President Barack Obama today, was addressing the AIPAC gathering in Washington late Monday.
The key question appears to be whether the Obama administration can tease sufficient concessions from Netanyahu to lure wary Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas into peace talks.
Palestinian and other Arab officials said they were waiting for the outcome of the Obama-Netanyahu meeting before taking further steps.
Underscoring the situation’s sensitivity, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said news cameras would be excluded from the two leaders’ meeting this evening.
Similarly, there was no media access to Clinton’s meeting with Netanyahu at a Washington hotel Monday. That one-on-one session went on for 75 minutes, longer than planned.
While spokesmen for Obama and Clinton denied they were sending a message, there seemed to be one: U.S. relations with Israel are not yet back on an even footing after the east Jerusalem construction announcement two weeks ago marred a visit to Israel by Vice President Joe Biden.
According to news reports from Israel, Netanyahu has agreed to take steps to improve life for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Clinton warned that the status quo is unsustainable for Israel because the Arab population in Israel and the occupied territories is growing faster than the Jewish one.
