President Obama hopes to bring the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority back to the negotiating table at this month's opening session of the UN, a top Israeli official said Monday.
"I think they will meet by the end of September," said Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Obama are all scheduled to be in New York for the start of the UN General Assembly during the week of Sept. 20.
If all goes to plan, Obama would host a three-way meeting in New York aimed at getting Netanyahu and Abbas to agree to return to full-fledged peace talks, Peres said.
"President Obama will chair it, and I think that at least there is a chance that they will decide they are going to reopen negotiations," Peres told Fox News.
Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, will not have a seat at the table, Peres said. Fatah forces, under the control of Abbas, control the Arab lands in the West Bank.
The White House would neither confirm nor deny the meeting will take place.
"I would not contradict...President Peres," said spokesman Robert Gibbs. "We're certainly hopeful that progress is being made, and that we can see that progress continue in the near future."
A diplomatic source familiar with the behind-the-scenes planning said reuniting the principals at the UN gathering is a welcome goal, but far from being a done deal.
"Would they like to do it that week? Yes. I just wouldn't bet we get it done by then," the source told the Daily News.
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