Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he's willing to open peace talks with the Palestinians "immediately," contingent on acceptance of the Jewish state's right to exist.
The comments came after a 90-minute meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, who told the prime minister it was time to get back to the bargaining table.
"We have seen progress stalled on this front, and 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 reintegrated his support for a two-state solution for the Middle East, but Netanyahu only said that the Palestinians should govern themselves.
The prime minister, a hardliner on peace negotiations, said he was willing start negotiations with the Palestinians immediately, but only if they accepted Israeli's right to exist.
"There's never been a time when Arabs and Israelis see a common threat the way we see it today," Netanyahu said, referring to the threat of Iran's nuclear program.
Obama signaled he was ready to pursue deep international sanctions against Iran if it spurred U.S. attempts to negotiate over their weapons program. The U.S. and many of its allies say Iran is trying to a build a nuclear weapon.
"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."
The two-state solution
On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that he believed Netanyahu would back the two-state plan.
But national security adviser Uzi Arad, a senior aide to Netanyahu, contradicted Barak's statement.
Netanyahu's visit to the U.S. has sparked hopes of a renewed Middle East peace process, despite differences on several important issues.
American officials have reached out to both Iran and Syria, foes of Israel, and have ramped up pressure for the creation of a Palestinian state, something most conservative politicians in Israel oppose.
Another potential source of conflict is Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
In the latest developments Monday, settlers said that government officials are accepting bids for the construction of infrastructure ahead of a new settlement in the region.
An existing U.S.-backed peace plan, signed by Netanyahu's predecessors, calls for a two-state solution to the peace process, as well as a limit on settlement activity.
But experts are skeptical about the possibility of a separate Palestinian homeland.
"The two state solution is something that Benjamin Netanyahu can afford to discuss, because it's not going anywhere," said Middle East analyst Kamran Bokhari.
With Hamas controlling the Gaza Strip and the West Bank under control of Fatah, there's little chance the Palestinians have the political solidarity to create a state at this point, Bokhari told Â鶹´«Ã½net Sunday night.
"As long as there is no unity amongst the Palestinians, the Israelis don't have to give up anything and therefore, they can afford to talk about the two state solution."
Increasing Netanyahu's political burden during the Washington visit is deep cynicism among Palestinians -- shell shocked from the winter Gaza offensive only a few months ago -- about Israel as a peace partner, said Bokhari.
And among Israelis, the two state solution is a political minefield: While some Israelis see it as integral to any lasting peace deal, others view it as a trap.
Complicating matters are the multitude of regional and international players like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria and the different Palestinian factions who will need to green light any deal if the White House wants lasting peace.
"At some point, all of these groups have to come to some sort of a consensus on how they want to move forward, and right now, at this point in time, we're really far off from that," said Bokhari.
"The Arab states in the region, at the end of the day ... all they're interested in is maintaining the status quo."
Daniel Levy, director of the Middle East bureau at New America foundation, stressed that Netanyahu actually hasn't even endorsed it yet.
"First of all, we haven't heard it from the Prime Minister's mouth."
Over the past eight years, former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both endorsed a two-state solution for the Middle East, yet the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate, said Levy, who is a former Israeli peace negotiator.
Levy noted that Obama is likely the last president who will realistically be able to propose a peace solution because of worsening relations between Israelis and Palestinians.
"Talking about it endlessly hasn't got us anywhere," he said.
With files from The Associated Press
