The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Tuesday urged the United States to make political decisions in addition to its "encouraging" statements about Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

The Israeli rejection of President Barack Obama's call for freezing settlement activities in the Palestinian territories "must prompt the new US administration to make clear political decisions besides its encouraging calls," said Nabil Abu Rdineh, spokesman for the PNA.

"Supporting Mr. Obama's call with practical measures would give an important chance to the peace message he carries to the region," Abu Rdineh added, referring to Obama's visit to the Middle East which will start this Wednesday with a visit to Saudi Arabia and his long-awaited speech in Egypt on Thursday.

Obama has asked Israel to halt all kinds of settlement activities in the West Bank, but Israel said it could not stop the natural growth in the existing settlements and the major ones would be preserved.

The Palestinians see the Jewish settlement in the West Bank, an area that would be the largest part of their future statehood, as the key reason that hindered months of peace negotiations.

The PNA hopes that Obama could succeed in getting the peace talks back on track as he has promised.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2009)