US defense secretary Leon Panetta today called for "bold action" from Israeli and Palestinian leaders to achieve peace after cautioning that Israel was becoming increasingly isolated in the Middle East.
Mr Panetta, making his first trip to Israel since becoming Pentagon chief, met Israel defence minister Ehud Barak at the start of his visit which includes separate talks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"I want to emphasise that there is a need, and an opportunity, for bold action on both sides to move toward a negotiated two-state solution. There is no alternative to negotiations," Mr Panetta said at a news conference with Mr Barak.
US-brokered peace talks collapsed a year ago after Mr Netanyahu refused to extend a 10-month limited moratorium on construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Mr Abbas has conditioned a return to negotiations on a settlement freeze and applied last month for full Palestinian membership of the United Nations, a move opposed by the United States and Israel which have urged him to resume talks.
A spokesman for Mr Abbas said the Palestinian leader, in his meeting with Mr Panetta, "stressed his readiness to go back to negotiations should Israel commit to stopping settlement activities and commit to the 1967 borders".
He was referring to lines, which Mr Netanyahu has described as indefensible, that existed before Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip in a 1967 war. The Palestinians hope to establish a state in those territories.
Speaking to reporters on his flight to Israel, Mr Panetta said he would reaffirm US security commitments to Israel and try to help it improve its increasingly chilly relations with Turkey and Egypt.
"It's pretty clear, at this dramatic time in the Middle East when there have been so many changes, that it is not a good situation for Israel to become increasingly isolated. And that is what has happened," Mr Panetta said.
Speaking at the news conference with Mr Panetta, Mr Barak said: "It is clear that in the world as a whole there are many who would like to see Israel cornered into a sort of isolation and it is clear to us that we have a responsibility to try to moderate, to ease tensions".
Mr Panetta's visit to the Middle East, which includes meetings with Egyptian leaders, comes at a time when Arab popular demand for political change has shaken the region, raising hopes, tensions and uncertainty.
Protests toppled governments in Tunisia and longtime US ally Egypt earlier this year and touched off a civil war in Libya that led to the ouster of leader Muammar Gadafy.
But the changes have sometimes been unsettling.
Egyptian protesters invaded the Israeli Embassy in Cairo a month ago in anger over a clash that killed five border guards. The military government's handling of that incident and comments afterward raised concerns about Cairo's future commitment to its long-standing peace deal with Israel.
"The timing (of Mr Panetta's visit) couldn't be more apt given the events unfolding in the region and broad range of important issues on the agenda with the Israelis and the Egyptians," a senior US defence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
On the flight to Israel, Mr Panetta said he would make clear to Israel that the United States would protect its "qualitative military edge".
"As they take risks for peace, we will be able to provide the security that they will need in order to ensure that they can have the room hopefully to negotiate," he said.
Iran and its nuclear programme also will be on Mr Panetta's agenda. He said with much of the world opposed to Iran developing its nuclear capabilities, it would be best to work together to try to curb Tehran's ambitions rather than take unilateral action.
Reuters