JERUSALEM: Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu was on Thursday meeting with his inner Forum of Seven, a government official said, to discuss ideas for rescuing peace talks that were raised with the US Middle East envoy.
A government official confirmed the prime minister had called the meeting but refused to say what would be on the agenda.
"The peace process has arrived at an impasse. The Palestinians are systematically refusing to enter direct negotiations with Israel, unfortunately," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The international community should appeal to the Palestinians to change their position and agree to come back to the negotiating table."
US Middle East envoy George Mitchell had earlier this week held two days of talks with Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to try to find a way to keep the sides engaged in the search for peace.
But Arab diplomats on Wednesday ruled out a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations without a "serious offer" which would ensure their success.
They also decided to approach the UN Security Council to seek a resolution against Israel’s ongoing settlement building.
Direct peace talks collapsed last week after Washington admitted it had failed to secure Israel’s agreement to a new freeze on settlement building — the Palestinian condition for continuing to negotiate.
The US focus is now on new ideas, with Mitchell proposing six weeks of "parallel" talks, where negotiators would hold separate talks with the Americans in a format which would not be classed as "negotiations", a Palestinian official told AFP on Wednesday.
The Forum of Seven ministers was also to consider the possibility of widespread international recognition of an independent Palestinian state, the Maariv daily said.
Over the past few weeks, Palestinian officials have been talking up their options if peace talks with Israel totally collapse — one of which is seeking recognition for a unilateral declaration of statehood.
Earlier this month, Brazil and Argentina recognized a Palestinian state, with Uruguay soon to follow suit. And this week, European Union foreign ministers also expressed their readiness to recognize such a state at an "appropriate" time.
Israel opposes such a move, saying a Palestinian state should only be established through negotiations.
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives late Wednesday approved a measure condemning unilateral measures to declare or recognize a Palestinian state, and backing a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The House measure comes after Brazil, and later Argentina and Uruguay, in early December recognized a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, the boundaries that existed before Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The resolution, introduced by Democrat Howard Berman, reaffirms the "strong support" in the lower chamber of the US Congress "for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states, a democratic, Jewish state of Israel and a viable, democratic Palestinian state."
The text also "reaffirms its strong opposition to any attempt to establish or seek recognition of a Palestinian state outside of an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians."
It urges Palestinian leaders to "cease all efforts at circumventing the negotiation process" and calls on foreign governments "not to extend such recognition."
One of the co-sponsors of the House measure was Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the incoming House Foreign Affairs Committee, who earlier condemned moves by the South American countries to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said that such recognition by the South Americans was "counter-productive" to achieving Middle East peace.
The European Union on Monday stopped short of outright recognition of a Palestinian state despite mounting pressure to break the Middle East impasse, but did reaffirm its readiness to recognize such a state at an "appropriate" time.
