国际英语新闻：Israeli PM warns Palestinians over "unilateral action" threats

JERUSALEM, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday told government ministers that Israel expects the "Palestinians to fulfill their commitment to hold the direct talks," restarted on Sept. 2 after an 18-month break.

"I think that any attempt to circumvent them by going to international bodies is not realistic and it will not advance the real diplomatic process," Netanyahu said at a weekly cabinet session, the Ha'aretz daily reported.

"We are holding intensive contacts with the American administration in order to restart the diplomatic process," Netanyahu said at the meeting in a statement sent to Xinhua.

The momentum may be snagged by a demand by Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas that Israel fully halt all settlement construction in the West Bank before resuming talks.

"When Obama became president he was the one who declared that the 'settlement construction must be stopped.' The United States says it, Europe says it, the whole world is saying it, why should I not say it?" Abbas told an interviewer on Israel Channel 1 television.

Talks are at a standstill now, with some analysts also citing upcoming midterm elections in the United States as a reason for the breakdown, with both sides unwilling to take decisive steps until the outcome of voting in the Congress is confirmed, and its effect on President Barack Obama's positions.