Jordan's King Abdullah Meets Israeli Premier in Washington

King Abdullah of Jordan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington and discussed the direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians that begin today.

The Jordanian monarch stressed during the meeting yesterday “the need to take necessary steps that ensure the negotiations address all final status issues and to have quick and concrete progress towards a two-state solution,” according to a statement from the Royal Court.

Abdullah added that such measures help “guarantee the creation of an independent Palestinian state on Palestinian national soil, living in peace and security alongside Israel according to resolutions and terms of reference that have been adopted.”

U.S. President Barack Obama invited Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to Washington to formally open a new round of talks with the goal of achieving an accord within a year.

Direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations were suspended when Israel launched a 2008 military operation in Gaza that it said was intended to stop rocket attacks on its southern towns and cities from the area controlled by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union and Israel.

Issues that have complicated peace talks for years will be discussed, including east Jerusalem, border matters, the right of return for Palestinian refugees and guarantees of Israeli security. There are about 4.7 million registered Palestine refugees living in the Middle East, according to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

To contact the reporter on this story: Massoud A. Derhally in Beirut, Lebanon, at mderhally@bloomberg.net.

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