Clinton says unilateral moves no substitute for peace

Talks are the ‘only route’ to a settlement, US secretary of state says

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, left, meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, and PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem, September 15, 2010. (photo credit: Kobi Gideon/Flash90)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, left, meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, and PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem, September 15, 2010. (photo credit: Kobi Gideon/Flash90)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says unilateral action isn’t a substitute for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on a two-state solution.

Clinton says talks are the “only route” for a peace settlement. And she says prospects have improved with the emergence of a new Israeli coalition government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Clinton spoke Thursday in Denmark a day after Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Israel cannot wait forever to reach accord. Barak said if a deal proves impossible, the Jewish state could consider a “provisional arrangement or even unilateral action.”

But Clinton argues that Israel and the Palestinians now have a “new opening” for progress.

And she praises Israel’s decision to return the bodies of 91 militants, including suicide bombers, as a confidence-building measure.

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