Peres: I still believe peace with Palestinians is possible

Democratic whip says US will veto Palestinians statehood bid at the UN; says Pollard case is a matter for the legal system.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN, JPOST.COM STAFF
Shimon Peres 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Shimon Peres 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
President Shimon Peres told a delegation of visiting US Democratic Congresspeople that he is still convinced peace with the Palestinians is possible.
Speaking at the President's Residence, Peres told the congresspeople that he is in contact with Palestinian officials and that both Israelis and Palestinians understand that returning to the negotiating table is something they must do prior to the start of the United Nations General Assembly session in September, Israel Radio reported.
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The president added that he believes the Palestinian leadership is itself unsure whether the United Nations statehood bid is the right move.
Speaking to reporters prior to the meeting with Peres, US Democratic House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said that if necessary, the United States would use its right to veto in the UN Security Council. The best solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said, was direct negotiations without preconditions. he hoped this would happen soon.
He also told reporters prior to the meeting with President Peres that he was the sponsor of a resolution that clearly put the United States on record as being opposed to the United Nations unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state.
While most high-ranking dignitaries from the United States tend to avoid demonstrators on behalf of imprisoned Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard, Hoyer, had no such inhibition.
Hoyer stopped to talk on Wednesday with demonstrators opposite the President's Residence.
Hoyer explained to The Jerusalem Post that the Pollard issue was a legal matter to be discussed by the legal systems of Israel and the United States and there was not much that he could do about it.
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