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by Matt Spetalnick
U.S. President Barack Obama will hear a direct appeal to ratchet up pressure on Israel to freeze settlements when he meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday as part of Washington's drive to revive peacemaking.
Wading into Middle East diplomacy early in his presidency, Obama will hold talks with Abbas 10 days after hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, where they remained at odds over Jewish settlement expansion. Abbas will make his case for a tougher U.S. approach toward Netanyahu, who has not only rebuffed Obama's calls for a moratorium on settlement building in the occupied West Bank but has also balked at endorsing eventual Palestinian statehood.
But it remains unclear how hard Obama is willing to push Israel, a close U.S. ally, to make concessions when his
administration has yet to complete its Middle East strategy.
Obama, who has reaffirmed U.S. support for a two-state solution, sees engagement in Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking as crucial to repairing America's image in the Muslim world and drawing moderate Arab states into a united front against Iran.
In Thursday's talks, Obama's objective will be to shore up Abbas, a moderate backed by the West but politically weak with rival Hamas Islamists controlling the Gaza Strip.
On the eve of Abbas's visit, Netanyahu said in Jerusalem that the Palestinians must also be pressed to meet their
commitments, including cracking down on militants, under a 2003 peace "road map" each side has accused the other of ignoring.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stressed that Obama would keep prodding Israel to halt settlement building.
"That is what we have communicated very clearly, not only to the Israelis but to the Palestinians and others," she said.
Palestinians contend that Jewish settlement building is aimed at denying them a viable state.
PRELUDE TO OBAMA'S TRIP
Abbas's visit could be a preview of what Obama can expect next week when he sees Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, where the U.S. president will deliver a much-anticipated speech to the Muslim world.
Muslims will be looking for signs of how Obama intends to tackle the Arab-Israeli standoff. His predecessor George W. Bush was widely criticized for neglecting the decades-old conflict and most Muslims believed his policies were biased in favor of Israel.
What the White House has made clear is that Obama has no plan to use his June 4 speech to unveil a new peace initiative, despite widespread speculation that he will do so.
But Obama has signaled that he hopes to work toward a broader peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
For now, the prospects for progress look dim.
In Washington last week, Netanyahu, who heads a new right-leaning government, did not budge from his resistance to accepting a two-state solution, a cornerstone of U.S. policy.
Despite Obama's insistence that settlements "have to be stopped," Netanyahu held firm.
The U.S.-sponsored road map requires Israel to freeze settlement activity. Continued resistance could cause friction
in generally smooth relations between Israel and its staunchest ally.
Abbas has ruled out restarting peace talks until Israel commits to Palestinian statehood and a settlement freeze. Despite that, the White House said it was "hopeful" Abbas would agree to resume negotiations.
Close to half a million Jews live on West Bank land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, including Arab
East Jerusalem. The World Court has deemed the settlements illegal, a ruling Israel disputes.
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