Nikki Haley
Nikki HaleyReuters

Nikki Haley, the United States Ambassador to the UN, on Tuesday discussed reviving Israeli-Palestinian Arab peace negotiations during her first meeting with the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) envoy to the United Nations.

Haley tweeted after her talks with Ambassador Riyad Mansour that the Palestinians should "meet with Israel in direct negotiations rather than looking to the UN to deliver results that can only be achieved through the two parties."

She added that the United States "is committed to supporting a true peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”

Mansour told AFP that during the 45-minute meeting Haley "raised the desire to see the two parties engaging in negotiations" and indicated that the United States was considering a fresh bid to revive talks.

"I don't know at what level they want to do that, but once we receive a request to that effect, we will respond to it accordingly," he told the news agency.

Mansour described his meeting with Haley as "cordial" and said they agreed to continue discussions.

Israel-PA peace talks have been frozen since 2014, when the PA unilaterally applied to join international organizations in breach of the conditions of talks that were going on at the time, led by former Secretary of State John Kerry.

France stepped in and organized an international conference in January intended to lay the groundwork for a return to negotiations, but there has been little headway.

Israel opposes the French initiative, explaining that the only way to reach a peace agreement is through direct talks with the PA – which the PA refuses.

Haley last month rejected suggestions that the new administration was abandoning the two-state solution, explaining that the Trump administration is “thinking out of the box as well."

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly refused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s invitations for direct negotiations, and has instead chosen to impose preconditions on such talks.