Israel appeals for U.S. not imposing solution on Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he expects the next United States president not to impose a solution on the lingering Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu told his ministers at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting that the dispute can be resolved only by direct negotiations without preconditions, adding that his country expects that "the U.S. will remain faithful to the principle that it has set over many years."

The hardline leader said he hopes the U.S., Israel's closest ally, will not allow resolutions by the United Nations and other international bodies to impose on Israel solution to the conflict.

Netanyahu was referring to an ongoing move by the Palestinians to achieve an international recognition of a Palestinian state and become a member country in the UN General Assembly.

Israel has also been concerned about a French peace initiative, first proposed by the French government in 2015, which aims at setting parameters for a peace deal and a timeline to achieve it.

Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast War and has been holding it ever since, despite international criticism.

The last round of U.S.-brokered peace talks reached an impasse in April, 2014 amid the expansion of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the unity government between the PLO and Hamas. Endit