WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is working the phones to prod Israel and the Palestinians into direct peace talks.
The State Department said Friday, August 13, that Clinton had called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt to discuss remaining obstacles to getting the talks under way.
Her calls late Thursday followed a visit to the region by U.S. Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell, who wanted to get direct negotiations started next month. The Obama administration remains hopeful that several months of indirect talks mediated by Mitchell can soon be parlayed into face-to-face discussions. But to date, the two sides have balked at direct talks for different reasons.
