Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday urged the US Administration to exert pressure on Israel to halt construction in the settlements and east Jerusalem as a first step toward reviving the peace negotiations.
Abbas who met in Ramallah with US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, reiterated his refusal to resume peace talks unless Israel halted construction in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, released Palestinian prisoners and accepted the two-state solution on the basis of the pre-1967 lines.
During the meeting the two discussed ways of reviving the peace process, and the PA president said he would be prepared to return to the negotiations if Israel met the three conditions.
Abbas told the US emissary that he was not setting pre-conditions for resuming the peace talks, but was only demanding that Israel fulfill its obligations under the terms of the Road Map for peace in the Middle East.
During the meeting, Abbas complained that Israeli "intransigence" was responsible for the continued stalemate in the peace process.
A PA official in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post following the meeting that Burns did not carry any new ideas that could pave the way for the resumption of the peace talks.
The official expressed doubt that the Obama Administration would be able to put pressure on Israel in light of the upcoming presidential elections in the US.
"We don\’t expect a breakthrough before the US elections," the PA official said. "US President Barack Obama is not in a position to exert any kind of pressure on Israel because he\’s afraid of losing the votes of American Jews."