US Secretary of State John Kerry has met his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, discussing a host of issues including Iran and the state of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
"They discussed the full range of issues in the US-Israel relationship, including the state of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and the Secretary underscored the importance of both sides taking steps that contribute to an environment conducive for peace," State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said.
"They also continued the close consultations between our two countries on security and regional issues, including Iran and Syria," Psaki said after the meeting.
Ahead of the meeting in Jerusalem, Kerry said that both Israel and the Palestinians are working hard to find a way forward.
"And both parties indicate they would like to find a way to go forward in the talks. We obviously want to see that happen. We think it's important for them and for the region," he said.
"We will talk about Iran and the challenge of the Iranian nuclear programme. The talks have been going on even this week, so we have a considerable amount to try to digest with respect to that process. And also the region, obviously, faces enormous challenges," Kerry said.
"Syria remains a humanitarian catastrophe, and it has a profound impact on Israel, on Jordan, on Lebanon, on the region as a whole. And we continue to face the challenge of removing the chemical weapons from Iran," he said.
The Israeli Foreign Minister said everyone has the same desire to achieve comprehensive solution, to achieve a final status agreement.
"We're ready to sacrifice a lot for this goal. We proved our desire to achieve real peace with our neighbours, not only as a lip service but in all our agreements that we signed with Egypt, with Jordan," he said.
"We gave up territories three and a half times more than our territory today - Sinai, half of Judea Samaria, Gaza Strip. I think that we really - we are looking for the same positive approach from the other side and we think that any unilateral steps, they only can undermine all our efforts," Lieberman said.
The biggest challenge for the region, he said, is the Iranian issue.
