Netanyahu in Washington: I'm ready to offer Palestinians major concessions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for an immediate return to peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority yesterday, in his address to the United Jewish Communities General Assembly in Washington.

"My goal is not negotiations for the sake of negotiations. My goal is to achieve a permanent peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians - and soon," Netanyahu said.

He called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, saying, "Let us seize the moment."

"Peace between Israel and its neighbors could spare our children the horrors of war," he continued. "Peace could also usher in a new era of tremendous economic progress, for the benefit of everyone in the Middle East."

After his speech, Netanyahu met with U.S. President Barack Obama, despite earlier difficulties in arranging a meeting.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said no conclusions should be drawn from the delays in scheduling the meeting, which the White House announced only Sunday.

Gibbs said Obama's schedule has been "up in the air" since the mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas last week.

"He obviously looks forward to sitting down with the prime minister tonight and [continuing] to work together to address issues like Middle East peace and the threat that's posed by Iran," Gibbs said yesterday.

Nir Hefetz, Netanyahu's media adviser, told Haaretz yesterday that despite the fact that the meeting was scheduled at the last minute, there was no embarrassment or tension between the prime minister and Obama.

However, senior American officials who spoke off the record said the meeting was approved only at the last minute due to attempts to have Netanyahu make a more concrete public commitment to the peace process in his speech to the GA.

In his meeting with Obama, Netanyahu was expected to emphasize how serious he is about advancing peace with the Palestinians.

In addition, he is expected to tell Obama that Israel is willing to take far-reaching steps and be generous about limiting construction in the settlements as shows of good faith in renewing the talks, as well as make concessions to reach a permanent solution.

But Netanyahu also is expected to tell Obama that Israel will not compromise on security arrangements, including preventing weapons from entering any area Israel evacuates.

The prime minister said his government should be given credit for taking extraordinary steps to limit Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank.

"No Israeli government has been so willing to restrain settlement activities as part of an effort to relaunch peace talks," he said in his speech.

The beginning of Netanyahu's speech was interrupted by several female hecklers.

"Peace could usher in a new age of economic progress for the benefit of all. We have already signed peace agreements, two of them, with Egypt and Jordan. And we are eager to achieve peace with all our other neighbors, especially with the Palestinians," continued Netanyahu.

He also thanked Obama for supporting Israel in its fight against the Goldstone report.