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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
ending a three-day trip, is likely to face questions on Capitol
Hill on his refusal to endorse the cornerstone of international
Mideast policy, the creation of an independent Palestinian state.


Netanyahu was to meet Tuesday with House and Senate leaders and
a group of Jewish legislators. He was to lay out his vision of
Mideast peacemaking and make his case for strong action against
Iran. He was also meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

      President Barack Obama waded deep into the tangle of Mideast
politics during four hours of talks with Netanyahu on Monday,
telling the Israeli leader to stop expanding Jewish settlements and
grasp the "historic opportunity" to make peace with the
Palestinians.

      With Netanyahu at his side, Obama said he had told the new
Israeli leader that Israel must move quickly to resume peace talks
with the Palestinians and insisted that negotiations start from an
existing agreement to establish an independent Palestinian state in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

      "I suggested to the prime minister that he has a historic
opportunity to get a serious movement on this issue during his
tenure," Obama said. "That means that all the parties involved
have to take seriously obligations that they have previously agreed
to."

      Obama pointedly told reporters that serious negotiations between
Israel and the Palestinians would be possible only if Netanyahu
would order an end to the expansion of Jewish settlements in the
West Bank.

      Netanyahu, whose hard-line government replaced a more moderate
Israeli coalition last March, said he was ready to resume peace
talks with the Palestinians immediately but refused to say if he
would negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state existing
alongside Israel.

      As for Obama's demand to halt settlement expansion, Netanyahu
told reporters who traveled with him that Palestinians must also be
held to their obligation to dismantle militant groups.

      Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who visits the White House
on May 28, has said he would not resume negotiations unless Israel
committed to a two-state solution and agreed to freeze settlements.
His aides offered praise for Obama but were disappointed with
Netanyahu's response.

      Obama declared a readiness to seek deeper international
sanctions against Iran if it shunned U.S. attempts to open
negotiations on its nuclear program. He said he expected a positive
response to his diplomatic outreach by the end of the year.

      "The important thing is to make sure there is a clear
timetable, at which point we say these talks don't seem to be
making any clear progress," Obama said. "If that hasn't taken
place I think the international community will see that it's ...
Iran itself that is isolating themselves."

      Netanyahu considers Iran, with its nuclear program, arsenal of
ballistic missiles and repeated calls for Israel's destruction, to
be his country's greatest threat.

      After a White House news conference with Obama, he told
Israel-based reporters that he hoped the U.S. policy of engaging
Iran succeeds, but added that "Israel reserves the right to defend
itself."

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
ending a three-day trip, is likely to face questions on Capitol
Hill on his refusal to endorse the cornerstone of international
Mideast policy, the creation of an independent Palestinian state.


Netanyahu pressed to approve Palestinian state

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