U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says there is “no alternative to negotiations” between Israelis and Palestinians in securing a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict.
Speaking at a news conference in Tel Aviv Monday with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Panetta urged both sides to take “bold action” to move toward a two-state solution.
Palestinians last month went before the United Nations in a formal bid toward unilaterally seeking statehood. Israel and the U.S. oppose the move saying direct negotiations are the only path to Mideast peace.
In the coming hours, Panetta is scheduled to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad during his visit to the region. He will then travel to a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
His comments came as suspected Jewish extremists torched a mosque in a Bedouin village in northern Israel. Police have suspected Jewish radicals in other mosque fires this year. The incident further heightened tensions between Israeli and Palestinians.
On Sunday, Panetta warned that Israel is becoming increasingly isolated in the Middle East amid the ongoing upheaval that has swept across the region this year.
He said while traveling to Israel for his first visit as defense chief that Israel risks eroding its own security if it does not reach out to its neighbors, specifically mentioning Egypt and Turkey.
He also stressed that the Israelis and Palestinians need to set aside preconditions and return to long-stalled peace talks.
Israel has formally accepted an international plan for restarting negotiations, but the immediate resumption of talks appears unlikely as the two sides continue to differ over terms of the proposal.
Mr. Netanyahu Sunday welcomed “the Quartet's call for direct negotiations without preconditions.” He said Israel has concerns about the plan that it will raise at the “appropriate time.” He did not elaborate.
The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators issued a declaration last month calling for negotiations to resume “without delay or preconditions.”
