Israel moves to ease US concern on peace talks

As Israel seeks to cope with deep differences with the Obama administration, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is ready to allow peace talks with Syria and the Palestinians. After his arrival from the US on Wednesday, the Israeli prime minister said he has assured US President Barack Obama that Tel Aviv would engage in immediate peace talks. He, however, insisted that negotiations must focus on Israel's security. "I said I was ready to immediately open peace talks with the Palestinians, by the way, with the Syrians as well, of course, without preconditions," Netanyahu told reporters at Ben-Gurion Airport. "But I made it clear that any peace settlement there must find a solution to Israel's security needs." Netanyahu also said that he was ready to begin peace talks with Arab states. Currently only two Arab nations --Egypt and Jordan-- have diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv. The hardliner and hawkish government of the Netanyahu has so far refused to endorse a two-state solution and to freeze settlement activities in the West Bank in spite of mounting US calls. The expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied lands is believed to be the main reason behind the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. On negotiations with Syria, Tel Aviv has refused to withdraw from the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that it occupied in 1967 during the Six-Day War. Israel says the are is strategically too important to be returned. The Golan Heights gives Israel access to the Sea of Galilee -- main source of fresh water for the Israelis. Syria says that the peace talks would only continue after Israel fully withdraws from the occupied area.