Clinton: U.S. can't force Israel, Palestinians into peace talks



U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday acknowledged frustration in the Middle East over the delay in restarting Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, but said that the Obama administration could not "force" the sides into reaching a solution.

"This is hard work," Clinton said at the beginning of a three-day visit to the region. "I know people are disappointed that we have not yet achieved a breakthrough."

"But we must remember that neither the United States nor any country can force a solution. The parties must resolve their differences through negotiations," she added.

A year of U.S. diplomatic efforts has so far failed to revive talks aimed at ending the six-decade conflict through a peace treaty that would create a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The U.S. recently offered to bring the Palestinians and Israelis into "proximity talks", with a U.S. mediator shuttling between negotiating teams to restart the talks that broke down at the start of a war in Gaza in December 2008.

President Barack Obama's special Mideast envoy George Mitchell, came to the region last month for separate meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in another effort to see the talks re-launched.

Clinton planned during her visit to discuss how Arab states might give
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas political cover to help him resume peace talks despite his insistence that Israel first embark on a full freeze in West Bank settlements