Obama calls for peace in the 'Holy Land' of Israel and Palestine within a year



President sets ambitious 12-month timeline

This year must be different, he tells packed UN assembly



Obama also tells Iran 'door remains open to diplomacy'



Barack Obama today challenged the UN to push for peace in the Middle East in order to create an independent Palestine and secure Israel within a year.



Exhorting world leaders to push past years of cynicism and pessimism, the U.S. President urged them to press forward with renewed determination.

In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, he admitted the peace process had encountered 'few peaks and many valleys'.

Keynote address: President Barack Obama calls for peace between Israel and Palestine during the 65th United Nations General Assembly in New York

Passionate: President Barack Obama warned more blood would be shed if agreement on a way forward could not be reached

But he warned that without an agreement, 'more blood will be shed' and 'this Holy Land will remain a symbol of our differences, instead of our common humanity'.

As Obama spoke, Israel's seat in the hall sat empty because it was a Jewish holiday.



Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was present, listening to the president through a translator's earphone.



Obama's call for a Palestinian state drew a burst of applause from throughout the hall but his one-year timeline is hugely ambitious.



He made no mention of the militant Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip and refuses to accept Israel's right to exist.

The failure of past peace efforts has left both sides with rigid demands and public ambivalence about the value of a negotiated settlement.

Obama spoke with resolve of the need to address trouble spots around the world, but he tended first to the economic concerns that abound both at home and abroad.



'There is much to show for our efforts,' he said, recalling the economic turmoil of years past. 'We cannot - and will not - rest until these seeds of progress grow into a broader prosperity for all Americans and for people around the globe.'

Obama also defended his administration's approach to engaging Iran in negotiations over its nuclear programme - an effort that has failed thus far.



In July, the administration imposed a new set of sanctions on Iran but he said: 'The door remains open to diplomacy should Iran choose to walk through it.

'But the Iranian government must demonstrate a clear and credible commitment and confirm to the world the peaceful intent of its nuclear programme.'

Contrasting approaches: The Israeli delegation's seats are empty during the Obama address about the importance of human rights and democracy while the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas listens in



Iran recently has indicated interest in restarting talks with the West, and on Wednesday the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany offered Iran another chance to enter negotiations.

Obama also spoke to the promotion of human rights, open government and democracy - familiar themes from a president who has pushed for international cooperation against repression and tyranny.

'Make no mistake: The ultimate success of democracy in the world won't come because the United States dictates it. It will come because individual citizens demand a say in how they are governed,' he said. 'There is no soil where this cannot take root.'

Obama drew applause in mentioning U.N. efforts to protect the rights of women, and he urged all nations to act against oppression.

Stage set: Obama set a hugely ambitious one-year timeline for peace in the Holy Land

'Do no stand idly by, don't be silent when dissidents everywhere are imprisoned and protesters are beaten,' he said.



The president devoted his greatest attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, underscoring the urgency of overcoming the hurdles that he has met less than a month after relaunching direct negotiations between the parties.



Abbas is threatening to walk out of the talks if Israel does not extend a slowdown on construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank that is set to expire next week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not extend that partial freeze.

The looming expiration appears to have stalled the negotiations, which got under way in early September in Washington between Abbas and Netanyahu and then moved to a second round in Egypt and in Jerusalem last week.



Listening in: Interested members of the audience, U.S. Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton, and his wife, Michelle



That second round ended inconclusively with little visible progress and without the expected announcement of a third session.



Obama underscored the administration's position that the settlement moratorium should be extended, saying it 'has made a difference on the ground, and improved the atmosphere for talks.'

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the administration's special Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell have been meeting with officials from both sides and other interested parties this week in New York but seem to have made little headway.

Faced with the real possibility of the collapse of negotiations, Obama implored the international community to get behind the idea of peace and forget favoritism to one side or the other.



'Those of us who are friends of Israel must understand that true security for the Jewish state requires an independent Palestine,' he said.

Pleased with his work: U.S. President Barack Obama takes a seat after addressing the UN Assembly

'And those of us who are friends of the Palestinians must understand that the rights of the Palestinian people will be won only through peaceful means - including genuine reconciliation with a secure Israel.'



Obama urged the U.N. in its 60th year to look beyond past Middle East peace failures and get on with the task at hand.



'We can come back here, next year, as we have for the last 60, and make long speeches about it,' he said. 'We can read familiar lists of grievances. We can table the same resolutions. We can further empower the forces of rejectionism and hate.'



'Or we can say that this time will be different, that this time we will not let terror or turbulence or posturing or petty politics stand in the way.'