Obama, Abbas, Netanyahu to meet

JTA, September 19, 2009

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- President Obama, Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu will meet in a summit.

The leaders of the United States, the Palestinian Authority and Israel will meet Tuesday, according to a statement released Thursday night by the White House. Obama will meet separately with each leader before the summit.

"These meetings will continue the efforts of President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Special Envoy George Mitchell to lay the groundwork for the relaunch of negotiations, and to create a positive context for those negotiations so that they can succeed," the statement said.

Mitchell met Friday with Netanyahu and Abbas. After the Abbas meeting in Ramallah, Saeb Ereklat, the top Palestinian negotiator told reporters that Mitchell had failed to achieve the breakthrough necessary to renew talks. Abbas wants Israel to totally freeze settlement building; Netanyahu is willing to freeze such building for a limited time, and to make allowances for "natural growth."

Additionally, the Palestinians want to have comprehensive talks on all issues, including Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees; Israel wants only to discuss borders.

The statement did not say whether the meeting would take place in Washington or in New York, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.