President Obama, President Mubarak, His Majesty King Abdullah, Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas are meeting in the White House, along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
[caption id="attachment_8099" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="President Obama with leaders of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan & Egypt, White House Photo, Pete Souza"]
[/caption]After a full day of meetings, President Obama and the leaders of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan & Egypt express optimism on resuming negotiations for a peaceful Middle East.
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President Obama opened the dinner with:
"Good evening, everyone. Tomorrow, after nearly two years, Israelis and Palestinians will resume direct talks in pursuit of a goal that we all share —- two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. Tonight, I’m pleased to welcome to the White House key partners in this effort, along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the representative of our Quartet partners, former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
President Abbas, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Your Majesty King Abdullah, and President Mubarak —- we are but five men. Our dinner this evening will be a small gathering around a single table. Yet when we come together, we will not be alone. We’ll be joined by the generations —- those who have gone before and those who will follow.
Tonight, and in the days and months ahead, these are the questions that we must answer. And this is a fitting moment to do so.For Muslims, this is Ramadan. For Jews, this is Elul. It is rare for those two months to coincide. But this year, tonight, they do. Different faiths, different rituals, but a shared period of devotion —- and contemplation. A time to reflect on right and wrong; a time to ponder one’s place in the world; a time when the people of two great religions remind the world of a truth that is both simple and profound, that each of us, all of us, in our hearts and in our lives, are capable of great and lasting change."
This was followed by an addresses of each of the parties. From what was said it did not look like the peace could be achieved immediately. There were several points where different viewpoints were obvious. But at least the leader of the nations involved are now sitting at one table and started to talk again, which was not the case since over two years.
The complete wording of the address can be found here.
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