JERUSALEM (JTA) — The United States is committed to a peace deal between Syria and Israel, a U.S. State Department official said.
Senior State Department official Jeffrey Feltman met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem in Damascus Thursday, according to reports. It was Feltman’s second visit to Damascus in recent months and ended a U.S. boycott of Syria begun under George W. Bush.
"We conveyed … President Obama’s sincere commitment to pursue Arab-Israeli peace on all tracks, including on the Syrian-Israeli track," Feltman said, according to Reuters.
The Syrians want the United States to be involved in any future talks, according to reports.
Moallem told reporters Thursday that there was no reason to amend the 2002 Saudi peace initiative. Reports earlier in the week indicated that Arab states were revising the plan at U.S. urging.
