Leaders Call for Peace as Mideast Talks Begin

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority appeared together Wednesday with President Obama, who urged the leaders to produce "lasting change" during their peace talks in Washington.

In remarks that followed, Mr. Netanyahu said that he "came here today to make peace," and "didn't come here to find excuses or make them." And he addressed Mr. Abbas directly, saying that they could not correct the failures of the past, but could work to improve the future.

Mr. Abbas then struck similar themes, calling on Israelis and Palestinians "to live as neighbors, partners" while calling for an independent Palestinian state. He said he thought it would be possible to achieve a settlement “within a year” despite a troubled history between the Israelis and the Palestinians, including what he described as   “the historical injustices of 1948” and “the occupation that started in 1967.”

Mr. Obama’s one-on-one meetings earlier with Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas in the White House Oval Office began under the cloud of the violent attack Tuesday on the West Bank, claimed by Hamas militants, which left four Israeli settlers dead.