British foreign secretary calls for resumption of peace talks

Israel is becoming increasingly isolated and time is running out for the country''s leaders to reach a peace deal for a "two state solution" with the Palestinians, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said. "The United Kingdom deplores any attempt to delegitimise Israel, but friends of Israel should be increasingly concerned about its growing isolation in the international community," Hague writes in an article published on the UK daily (Sunday Telegraph). He also gave the clearest signal yet that Britain will abstain if the request for statehood lodged at the UN by Palestinian Presidnet Mahmoud Abbas reaches a vote at the Security Council. Instead, Britain is part of the push by international powers to revive stalled Middle East peace talks with a new time frame that requires meetings within one and three months and sets the end of 2012 as a deadline for an agreement, Hague said. "While we support the principle of Palestinian statehood, we know that only a negotiated settlement can create a viable Palestinian state," Hague says. "No resolution at the UN can substitute for the political will necessary if both sides are to come to the negotiating table