San Francisco (Obama.net)- After decades of conflicts and wars, it appears that we are finally on the cusp of seeing peace agreed upon between Israel and Palestine. After both Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, separately met with President Barack Obama during the during, it was agreed that both leaders would sit down together to discuss peace prospects between the nations.
As the first round of peace talks took place in Washington D.C., in the White House earlier last week, reports came out that the talks were productive. Netanyahu, Abbas, and Obama, as well as leaders from Egypt and Jordan, all spoke about the conflicts in the Middle East and had dinner together before speaking to reporters.
In order to speed the talks up, Prime Minister Netanyahu has issued a proposal to President Abbas on Sunday.
Netanyahu offered up the idea of meeting in person with Abbas every other week in order to not lose track on the talks or allow other issues to drive their attention away from the peace talks.
Netanyahu said that while talks like the one that took place in the White House hosted by President Barack Obama are good, it is more important that he and Abbas sit down together because at the end of the day the peace agreement has to be done between the two of them.
Palestinian officials are pleased with Netanyahu’s approach, agreeing with his stance that it must be the two leaders who take the lead in the peace talks.
Some are worried that recent events might change the course of action for the two states.
One of the concerns has to do with Hamas claiming to be planning to attack Israel soon.
In addition, an Israeli bomb killed two people in tunnels in Gaza that are used by Palestinians.
The ongoing issue of the West Banks settlements by Israel is also an issue of concern.
The two men did meet privately in the White House in a room near Hilary Clinton’s office on Thursday for nearly two hours.
Obama has asked Israel to extend the stoppage of the settlement construction for the sake of the peace talks.
As the conflicts between the two nations continue to play a factor, both sides have agreed to meet often and regularly in order to finally put an end to a feud that has been going on for over half of a century.
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