Leon Panetta, US defence secretary, has urged Israel to go back to the negotiating table with Palestinians and to address what he described as the country's growing isolation in the Middle East.
In remarks made at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Friday, Panetta said: "The problem right now is we can’t get them [Israel's leaders] to the damn table to at least sit down and begin to discuss their differences.
"We understand the concerns of Israel, we understand the concerns of the Palestinians.
"If they sit at a table and work through those concerns and the United States can be of assistance in that process, then I think you have the beginning of what could be a process that could lead to a peace agreement.
"But if they aren’t there, if they aren’t at the table, this will never happen. So first and foremost get to the damn table."
Talks broke down in September 2010 over Israel's refusal to halt construction in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Panetta urged Israel to "lean forward'' to achieve peace with the Palestinians.
"Rather than undermining the Palestinian Authority, it is in Israel's interests to strengthen it by ... continuing to transfer Palestinian tax revenues and pursuing other avenues of co-operation,'' he said.
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