WASHINGTON, June 3, 2015 (WAFA) –United States President Barack Obama Tuesday blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's terms for diplomacy for failing to advance peace with the Palestinians, saying Israel seems to have lost its international credibility as a potential peacemaker.

In an interview with the Israeli Channel II, Obama suggested that continued US diplomatic defense for Israel at the United Nations over the Palestinian cause may be reviewed, though he reaffirmed US commitment towards Israeli security.

He said he was pessimistic about decades of negotiations on Palestinian statehood bearing any fruit during the 18 months he has left in office. “I don't see the likelihood of a framework agreement … The question is how do we create some building blocks of trust and progress.”

Obama said Netanyahu's position “has so many caveats, so many conditions that it is not realistic to think that those conditions would be met at any time in the near future.”

“So the danger is that Israel as a whole loses credibility. Already, the international community does not believe that Israel is serious about a two-state solution.”

“Well, here's the challenge. If in fact there is no prospect of an actual peace process, if nobody believes there is a peace process, then it becomes more difficult to argue with those who are concerned about settlement construction, those who are concerned about the current situation,” he said.

“It is more difficult for me to say to them, 'Be patient, wait, because we have a process here.”

Obama said that both Israelis and Palestinians should work with the United States to “move off what appears right now to be a hopeless situation and move it back toward a hopeful situation”.

M.N/M.H