Netanyahu to meet Obama in July
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President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet in the White House on July 6, in an effort to seize "moment of opportunity" to push peace, a top assistant to Obama said on Sunday.
"The President has offered the date of July 6 where the Prime Minister, Netanyahu, will be coming back to the White House for a rescheduled visit," Rahm Emanuel, White House chief staff, told ABC's "This Week."
"That will be the fifth visit by the prime minister to the White House ... to work on a series of issues that are from the peace process to the security of the State of Israel, to also dealing with other issues in and around the region," said Emanuel.
The top assistant to President Obama said he believes that Netanyahu is willing to take "big risks" to make peace, adding that both sides need to "seize this moment of opportunity" to finally make peace in the Middle East.
"Peace where Israel feels secure and peace that is in balance with the Palestinians aspirations for sovereignty. That is possible ... It is now the time, given where we are, to basically find that proper balance," he said.
The Obama-Netanyahu meeting, which was scheduled on June 1, was canceled after Israel's deadly raid on a flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip on May 31.
Under the pressure mounted by the Obama administration, the Israeli government and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) resumed their talks in May, although in an indirect way mediated by U.S. special envoy George Mitchell, ending a 17-month-long stalemate.
Obama has urged both sides to resume direct talks in order to reach a permanent agreement that leads to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. But the two sides refused the call because of dispute over Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian side insists that the talks shall not resume until the Israeli government totally freezes the Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank, while the Israeli side blames the PNA of setting condition for resuming the talks and vows to ensure the "natural growth" of the Jewish settlements.
At least 450,000 Israelis live in more than 100 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
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