JERUSALEM -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the US will "vigorously" pursue the creation of a Palestinian state.
Clinton is making her first visit to the region as the top US diplomat. She spoke Tuesday alongside Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni ahead of a meeting later in the day with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Israeli President Shimon Peres (R) and visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem March 3, 2009. [Agencies] |
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised to work with the incoming Israeli government, but delivered a clear message that could put her at odds with the country's next leader: Washington "will be vigorously engaged in the pursuit of a two-state solution every step of the way."
Clinton spoke ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposes full Palestinian independence.
Clinton, opening her first visit to the region as the top US diplomat, arrived during a transition period in Israel.
Netanyahu, leader of the hardline Likud Party, is putting together a new coalition government and is expected to be sworn in as prime minister within weeks. His criticism of US-led Mideast peace talks during the recent election campaign has raised fears that his government could clash with the Obama administration.
Clinton sought to play down such concerns, saying the US is ready to work with any Israeli government.
"We will work with the government of Israel that represents the democratic will of the people of Israel," Clinton said after meeting Israel's ceremonial president, Shimon Peres.
Clinton stressed the US's "unrelenting" commitment to Israel's security and said rocket fire at Israel from militants in Gaza "must cease."
"There is no doubt that any nation, including Israel, cannot stand idly by while its territory and people are subjected to rocket attacks," she said, criticizing the rocket fire as "cynical."
But she also noted her declaration at a high-profile conference in Egypt on Monday that the US supports the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Ahead of their meeting, Netanyahu showed signs of backing off his previous pledges to abandon the current round of peace talks, launched in November 2007 at a US-hosted summit.
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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lays a wreath during a ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem March 3, 2009. [Agencies] |
Netanyahu planned to tell the secretary of state that his government will continue peace talks with the Palestinians, a lawmaker from Netanyahu's Likud Party said.
"I think that Hillary Clinton, when she comes today, will find Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to continue to hold negotiations, not only on economic projects but also political negotiations, a political process," said Likud lawmaker Silvan Shalom, a former foreign minister.
That message would mark a change in the hard-line Likud leader's long-stated position that peace talks are a waste of time because of the weakness of the Palestinian leadership. He has suggested in the past he would instead invest in the Palestinian economy while continuing Israel's military occupation of the West Bank indefinitely.
But Shalom, who spoke to Army Radio, would not say that Netanyahu supports the creation of a Palestinian state in what is now Israeli-controlled territory, the key goal of US-backed peace negotiations. Netanyahu also openly opposes any division of the holy city of Jerusalem, a central Palestinian demand.
Clinton arrived in Jerusalem Monday evening from the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, where she pledged $900 million in US aid at an international donors conference for rebuilding the Gaza Strip after Israel's recent offensive against its Hamas rulers.
After meeting with Peres, she visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.
Writing in the guest book, Clinton described the memorial as a testament to "the triumph of the Jewish people over murder and destruction and a reminder to all people that the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten. God bless Israel and its future."
A packed schedule of meetings with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem included talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. On Wednesday, she is to call on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.
Speaking at the Sharm el-Sheikh conference, Clinton said the Obama administration was committed to pushing intensively to find a way for Israelis and Palestinians to exist peacefully in separate states, and called for urgent action to forge a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.
Netanyahu has several weeks to form a new governing coalition. His attempts to bring Livni, his centrist rival, into a broad coalition government have failed so far, largely because of Netanyahu's refusal to embrace Livni's call for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
