The issues of a nuclear Iran and a new Palestinian Authority state should be dealt with independently, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, headed by Senator John Kerry.
Senator Kerry has been in the forefront in demands that Israel stop all building for Jews in Judea and Samaria. He also visited Gaza earlier this year, the first leading American official to do so since the terrorist organization seized power in Gaza and ousted Fatah, headed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Prime Minister Netanyahu conceded to the Senate committee that the two issues of the PA and Iran should be dealt with simultaneously but not necessarily as a single package, as U.S. President Barack Obama told him that he envisions.
Sen. Kerry and the Prime Minister sought common ground in remarks to the media, and the Democratic leader said he “emphasized that this is not a one-way street and the burden is not only on Israel to take all the steps.” He did not specify what concessions or compromises, if any, the PA should make.
Sen. Kerry said he was “encouraged” by the meeting, despite the Prime Minister’s continuing to refrain from stating accepting a new PA state and instead repeating promises to continue to strive for peace talks with Abbas. The PA leader so far has refused to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu because he has not outrightly stated he will accept a new PA state, which Arabs want to be established on all of the land beyond the Israeli borders that existed between 1949 and 1967.
"We intend to pursue the peace track independent of what happens in Iran," Prime Minister Netanyahu said after the discussion with the Senate committee.
The next meetings on the Prime Minister’s agenda are with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives.