President Barack Obama has warned Israel
of “international fallout” if it does not endorse a US framework for a
peace deal with the Palestinians.
Ahead of talks at the White House, Mr Obama told the Bloomberg news agency that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needed to “seize the moment”.
BBC reports that Netanyahu reacted defiantly, vowing, “I won’t give in to pressure.”
There has been little sign of progress from the direct talks that resumed in July after a three-year hiatus.
At the time, Washington said it sought to
achieve a deal on a solution to the decades-old conflict by 29 April,
but officials say a framework accord on core issues would enable
negotiations to continue beyond that date.
BBC reports that Netanyahu wants Monday’s talks to focus on Iran’s controversial nuclear programme.
He believes the US and other world powers
are being naive in their negotiations with Tehran, and he is opposed to
an agreement that would allow uranium enrichment to continue at low
levels.
But Obama is unlikely to budge and is
planning to press the Israeli prime minister on peace with the
Palestinians, our correspondent adds.
The US president wants both sides to
agree to the framework document – not yet made public – proposed by his
Secretary of State, John Kerry, which seeks to achieve consensus on core
issues.
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