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Obama meets with Peres, calls for renewed peace efforts

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Yesterday, following a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres, US President Barak Obama told reporters that ‘with the winds of change blowing through the Arab world, it’s more urgent than ever that we try to seize the opportunity to create a peaceful solution between Palestinians and Israelis.’ The meeting consisted of a private 45 minute conversation, and a lunch in which they were joined by senior aides. Peres, in his remarks to reporters, noted the consensus of opinion between himself and Obama on the issue of Iran. He stressed the need for exploiting what he described as the opportunity given by the current regional unrest to work against Iranian ambitions, and called for further sanctions against Teheran. Obama also referred to Peres as an ‘extraordinary statesman.’

Peres also thanked Obama for the recent US use of its veto against a motion in the UN Security Council which described Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank as ‘illegal.’ He noted the president’s opposition to ‘delegitimisation of Israel in any form’ and also recalled Obama’s support for Israel against what Peres referred to as the ‘blood libel’ of the Goldstone Report. Peres also said he asked Obama to pardon Jonathan Pollard, and stressed his opposition to attempts to impose a solution from the outside on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, which he described as standing ‘with only one side.’ The two also discussed the issue of Gilad Shalit.

The Israeli president also met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday and Vice-President Joe Biden yesterday. He will travel to Capitol Hill to meet with Democratic and Republican leaders today before departing for New York.