WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Barack Obama will hold a joint meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday to help restart peace talks between the two sides, the White House said.
Obama, who will be in New York for the UN General Assembly next week, will meet with each leader separately before convening the joint session with them.
“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.
US envoy Mitchell recently returned from a shuttle diplomacy trip to Jerusalem and Arab capitals.
“It is another sign of the President’s deep commitment to comprehensive peace that he wants to personally engage at this juncture,” Mitchell said in the White House statement.
He said the United States was continuing efforts to “encourage all sides to take responsibility for peace and to create a positive context for the resumption of negotiations.”
