VOA常速英语:Huge Gaps Ahead as Clinton Pushes for Resumption of Israeli-Palestinian Talks

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Jerusalem for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.  The top U.S. diplomat has met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Abu Dhabi before shuttling to Jerusalem

U.S. officials have acknowledged early on that bringing the Israelis and Palestinians back to negotiations will be a long and complex process.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comes to Jerusalem after getting no concessions from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the Palestinians' conditions for returning to talks. They demand that Israel freeze all construction on Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank before any negotiations start.  

Mr. Abbas' spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, told VOA by telephone from Abu Dhabi the Palestinians are not closer to returning to negotiations after Saturday's meeting between Clinton and Mr. Abbas.

"It was an important meeting, but I can tell you there is nothing new," he said.  "We didn't achieve anything. The Americans are ready. They are trying all their best. They are exacting all their efforts in order to achieve something on the ground."  

The Palestinian official says any compromise by Mr. Abbas on the settlement issue would impede the creation of a viable independent Palestinian state.  

"Every single house on the West Bank which was occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, is illegal," he said. "What we are ready for, is for a just peace: Two states living side by side, on a real basis and [under] real conditions."

Israel wants negotiations without preconditions and is ready to offer no more than a partial, temporary freeze on construction in the settlements.

Efraim Inbar, director of Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Israel's Bar-Ilan University is pessimistic about prospects for a breakthrough soon. He says the current U.S. strategy of pushing for a two-state solution is not winning support from Israelis who want to see a partition but are worried about Israel's security with Palestinians running their own state next door.  

"They are willing to accept a lot of militias and this is not being solved," said Inbar. "In Gaza, for example, we have Hamas, we have Islamic Jihad, we have al-Qaida armed elements. They have a problem in establishing a state. I think Israelis are ready for partition, for territorial concessions. I think most Israelis agree that the Palestinians are unable to be a real partner in the real future."

Secretary Clinton, who is visiting Jerusalem for the second time since President Barack Obama took office, will gauge Israel's willingness to compromise during her meetings with officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.