Washington will continue to support the Israeli-Palestinian settlement process even though it is difficult and may fail, U.S. President Barack Obama said at a press conference on Friday.
"That doesn't mean it's going to work," Obama said. "Ultimately, it's going to be up to them. We can facilitate. We can encourage. We can tell them that we will stand behind them".
The talks are "a risk worth taking," the U.S. President said.
"[Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas and Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu were here last week, and they came with a sense of purpose and seriousness and cordiality that, frankly, exceeded a lot of people's expectations. What they said was that they were serious about negotiations. They affirmed the goal of creating two states living side by side in peace and security," Obama said.
U.S., Israeli, and Palestinian representatives held trilateral discussions in the U.S. State Department last week, followed by a smaller meeting of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace Process George Mitchell.
RIA Novosti
