U.S. Notches Up Heat for Direct Israeli-Palestinian Talks

The Obama administration continues to turn up the heat on Mahmoud ‘Abbas and the Palestinian leadership in an effort to move talks with Israel to the direct level. ‘Abbas has apparently still not budged following a weekend that saw a succession of western leaders phone to impress upon him the importance the international community places on going “direct.” Palestinian sources even confirmed that President Obama has warned ‘Abbas that he needs to agree to direct talks now if he expects the White House to assist the Palestinians in their plans for statehood. On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley confirmed to reporters that “we have a full-court press underway to see if we can move to direct negotiations.” He said that over the weekend Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and also with her counterparts in Jordan and Qatar. On Tuesday, Netanyahu showed up in Amman for a surprise visit with King Abdallah II whom the Americans and Israelis hope will have some influence over ‘Abbas. The Palestinian leader has drawn lines-in-the-sand refusing to go to direct talks unless Netanyahu slaps an absolute freeze on building in areas acquired in the 1967 war; accepts pre-1967 borders and an international force to enforce them.