Kerry holds talks with Abbas, Netanyahu to revive peace talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry held last night talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan, followed by a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Occupied Jerusalem in a bid to revive stalled peace talks. According to a senior US State Department official, Kerry held “useful” separate talks with Netanyahu and Abbas on Saturday. The official gave no details on the meetings, which followed US President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories this week in which he called for fresh diplomatic efforts, but offered no new peace proposals of his own. Kerry, who accompanied Obama on his trip and then stayed on in the region, met for two hours with Abbas in Jordan’s capital of Amman. He then went to Jerusalem for talks with Netanyahu that stretched past midnight. “Secretary Kerry had useful follow up meetings with both President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu. These meetings were the natural next step to the discussions the president and Secretary Kerry had this week (with Israeli and Palestinian officials),” said the senior US State Department official. “In both meetings, Secretary Kerry reiterated that peace is not only possible, but necessary for the future of the Israeli and Palestinian people,” added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.