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Obama: Stop arguing about how to start talks
Obama is coming out again against preconditions, a striking reversal from his policy in the first term. He says the sides have to stop arguing about what is necessary to even start negotiating.
“That is not to say that settlements are not important,” he says — but if core issues are solved, the settlements will also be solved.
He warns against incremental steps that will delay resolution of issues, rather than incremental steps that will build confidence. Those, he says, could lead to “four more years, ten more years, twenty more years” of conflict.
