US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Saturday pressed for a swift resumption of Middle East peace talks despite the Palestinian insistence that Israel first stop all settlement activity. “I want to see both sides begin as soon as possible in negotiations,” Clinton said in Occupied Jerusalem at a press conference that she and hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held ahead of their talks.Clinton hails Israel's stance Clinton also “hailed” hawkish Netanyahu's stance on the thorny issue as “unprecedented,” and seemed to reject the Palestinian demand for a total settlement freeze in the occupied West Bank before resumption of talks that were suspended amid the Gaza war at the turn of the year. Earlier in the day Clinton held talks in Abu Dhabi with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas slammed Israeli settlement activity as the main obstacle in resuming the negotiations. “Israel should honor its obligations especially with regards to the total halt on the settlements,” Abbas told reporters, adding that no breakthrough was reached in the meeting. “The problem with the Israeli government is that it refuses to stop building settlements” in the West Bank and Occupied East Jerusalem, he said. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said: “The American delegation informed us of the Israeli position that refuses... a halt of construction of settlements.” “What the prime minister has offered in specifics of a restraint on the policy of settlements... is unprecedented,” Clinton said. If negotiations are restarted, Netanyahu's concessions on the thorny issue “will be seen as being not only unprecedented but in response to many of the concerns being expressed” by the Palestinians, Clinton said. Her support for the Israeli positions marked a sharp about turn from the US President Barack Obama administration's demand just months ago for a full Israeli settlement halt.
