Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Wednesday US President Barack Obama's opposition to a Palestinian push for statehood recognition at the UN as "a badge of honor."

"I want to thank you, Mr President, for standing with Israel and supporting peace," Netanyahu said as the two men met before a backdrop of US and Israeli flags on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly Wednesday.

Referring to Obama's vow to veto a Palestinian recognition appeal, possibly in the UN Security Council, Netanyahu said: "I think this is a badge of honor and I want to thank you for wearing that badge of honor."

Using the same words Obama had employed moments before in a speech to the General Assembly, Netanyahu condemned what he said were Palestinian efforts to "short cut" peace talks by seeking UN statehood recognition.

"We both agree that Palestinians and Israelis should sit down together and negotiate an agreement of mutual recognition and security," Netanyahu said.
"This is the only way to get to a stable and durable peace."

"I think the Palestinians want to achieve a state through the international community, but they are not prepared yet to give peace to Israel in return."

Netanyahu also said he hoped that despite intense political pressure, other world leaders would follow Obama and oppose any attempt by the Palestinians to raise the statehood issue in the Security Council.

The atmosphere in the meeting, in which Obama and Netanyahu sat side-by-side behind a boardroom-style conference table, was much warmer than in some of their past talks, notably a testy Oval Office encounter in May.

The talks took place seven hours before Obama was also due to hold a meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas amid intense diplomatic efforts to convince him to abandon the recognition drive at the United Nations.

Obama has threatened to wield a US Security Council veto to block such a bid, one year after saying at the UN that if talks saw progress, the world could meet within 12 months to welcome a new member state of Palestine.

The president, who has faced claims by Republican political opponents that he has been too hard on Israel, said the security bond between the Jewish state and the United States had never been stronger than under his watch.

And he warned that only direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians -- a process that is currently stalled -- could bring aspirations for Palestinian statehood to reality.

"Peace cannot be imposed on the parties. It's going to have to be negotiated.

"The ultimate goal of all of us is two states side by side living in peace."

Follow us on:

Facebook

Instagram

Whatsapp