WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama also met with members of the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Arab American Institute, the Arab Federation of Ramallah and the American Task Force for Palestine among others. He said that he will not push the Israelis and Palestinians toward new negotiations or a new peace initiative, but he will take with him $500 million to give to the Palestinian Authority that is much needed. 

He also plans to tell Palestinians that going through the UN is not the proper path to peace and will encourage them to go back to negotiations. At the same expressed frustration with the process and said that Israel has been reluctant to negotiate. 

 ‘The only people more frustrated than me,’ Obama said, were the ‘Palestinians living in West Bank and Gaza – it’s a legitimate frustration,’” a source in Al Arabiya quoted Obama as saying.

One of the participants also said that Obama expressed his frustration with Congress. “Every time the pressure gets to the Israelis they go to Congress,” said the source. “He wants to find a way around that, that’s why he wants to talk to the Israeli public directly.”

In addition, Obama said that if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is willing to negotiate, he should, but said it doesn’t seem like he is likely to and also that the window is closing. 

Obama also said he will urge the continued democratization process of Jordan. 

-TAAN, Al Arabiya