JERUSALEM (JTA) — President Obama wants "immediate" Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, according to U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell.
Mitchell, who is scheduled to meet Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss West Bank settlement policy, was quoted by Reuters Monday.
He followed up the statement Monday at a Palestinian donors conference in Norway, telling reporters that "The president has told me to exert all efforts to create the circumstance when the parties can begin immediate discussions."
The talks, Mitchell said, would bring peace to the region and also would serve "the security interests of the United States," according to Reuters.
