Obama to meet Netanyahu in the White House
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U.S. President Barack Obama will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday in the Oval Office, said the White House.
The Israeli prime minister was to arrive in Washington on Sunday night for delivering a speech at the 2009 General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America.
The Obama-Netanyahu meeting comes as Washington is pressing the Israeli government and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to re-launch the long-stalled peace talks.
PNA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to step down because the Netanyahu-led government's refusal to fully freeze Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank.
Some 450,000 Israelis live in more than 100 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Abbas slammed Israel's plans to approve additional settlement construction as "unacceptable," reiterating that he would not meet with Netanyahu until settlement construction is totally halted.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel of "stabbing President Abbas in the back," saying the Israeli government has given nothing to Abbas, who is seen by the international community as a moderate Palestinian leader.
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