President Obama has invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to the White House for separate meetings, White House officials said Wednesday.
The meetings with Mr. Obama will be the first for the Middle Eastern leaders since the start of the indirect peace talks that began last month, with the president’s special envoy, George J. Mitchell, mediating between the parties.
The president will use the meetings to give a push to the so-called proximity talks. “Both meetings are designed to help move that process forward,” said a White House spokesman, Tommy Vietor.
Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, delivered the invitation in person to Mr. Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday, while on a family visit to Israel.
The president will host Mr. Netanyahu on Tuesday. Mr. Vietor said no firm date had been set for Mr. Abbas’s visit.
Front Page Features