U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed on Thursday her plans to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits the United States next week, adding that she believed the Middle East peace process could progress despite recent obstacles.
"I do intend to see Prime Minister Netanyahu when he is in the United States next week," Clinton told reporters at a news conference with Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand, the second-to-last stop on her two-week Asia-Pacific tour.
Direct talks between Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas began on Sept. 2 in Washington but broke down several weeks later when a 10-month partial Israeli freeze on settlement building in the West Bank expired.
Netanyahu has resisted U.S., Palestinian and international calls to impose a new building moratorium on settlements in the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Palestinian officials have accused Netanyahu of destroying prospects for peace by allowing settlement building to continue on land that Palestinians want for a future state.
"We are working on a non-stop basis with our Israeli and Palestinian friends to design a way forward," Clinton said, saying she believed Netanyahu and Abbas were committed to pursuing a two-state solution to the six-decade conflict.
"I am very involved in finding the way forward and I think that we will be able to do so," she added.
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