Thaindian News

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday told U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Israel is “quite serious” on resuming peace talks with the Palestinian Authority as the two high-officials met in New York.

Netanyahu said that in the meeting with Clinton they will be discussing about how to resume and continue this process in order to reach an historic agreement on peace and security with the Palestinians.

“We also hope to broaden it to many other Arab countries,” the Israeli Prime Minister added. “We are quite serious about doing it and we want to get on with it.”

Clinton previously criticized the announcement of the new housing project in Jerusalem by the Israeli government. The U.S. State Secretary said that the decision was counterproductive but believed that the two sides are still committed to a two-state solution.

On the other hand, Netanyahu intends to discuss with Clinton the need of reaching an U.S.-Israel understanding on Israel’s security needs in any eventual peace agreement as many security challenges are expected in the next decade.

“The chances of reaching a peace agreement will be improved significantly by achieving comprehensive security understandings between Israel and the United States,” Netanyahu said.

The Israel-Palestine direct peace negotiations were stalled after Israel resumed construction in West Bank settlements after the settlement moratorium freeze was not extended. The Palestinian Authority demanded the settlement moratorium freeze as a condition for engaging in peace talks.