Kerry to Peres: This moment is critical for Israel, region

US Secretary of State urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to make the
necessary compromises to allow the resumption of direct talks, as he visited
both Jerusalem and Ramallah on Thursday.

“Our hope is that the leaders in
both Israel and the Palestinian authority will find a way to compromise,” Kerry
told President Shimon Peres.

The two met spoke in the evening after a
long day of back-to-back meetings that included talks with Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

It
is likely that Kerry will meet Netanyahu again on Friday before departing for
Ethiopia. Kerry is expected to meet Abbas again in Jordan on Sunday, on the
sidelines of the World Economic Forum. Peres will attend the forum, where he is
scheduled deliver a public address. Jordan’s King Abdullah II will also be at
the forum.

Peres told Kerry, “If you succeed, it will be our success. If
you will miss, we shall miss. We shall stand on your side all the way. You have
a mission of peace, which concerns all of us.”

Kerry responded, “It’s not
me, Mr. President. It’s really a question of whether Israel and the Palestinians
make the choices.”

“This moment is a really critical one for the region
and particularly for Israel, for Palestine and for Jordan, I think there is an
opportunity but for many reasons it is not on the tip of everyone’s tongue,”
Kerry said.

But in spite of the optimism created by the flurry of Kerry’s
activities, Palestinians publicly said they were not willing to compromise on
their key demands from Israel.