The three way meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Barack Obama, and Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas began Tuesday afternoon, after security threats caused a number of Obama's meetings to be delayed. Speaking before the meeting, Obama said that "the time has come to stop talking and start doing," with both Israel and the PA needing to do more to get negotiations going.
"The Palestinians need to do more in order to advance the negotiations. The Israelis have taken some steps, but they need to act to restrain activities in the settlements," Obama said. Israeli commentators on Tuesday night noted the use of the term "restrain," as oppose to "halting," which the U.S. has previously used. Channel Two commentator Amnon Abramovich said that it was as if the U.S. had set itself as a traffic cop. "Instead of closing the road completely, they are asking Israel to drive slower," Abramovich said.