US Secretary of State John Kerry will be visiting Israel Friday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the Iranian nuclear talks and the Palestinian peace process, according to Agence France-Presse Sunday. Netanyahu is also scheduled to discuss the Iran talks with French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin this week as well.
Netanyahu reportedly told ministers that he hopes "...we'll be able to convince our friends this week and in the following days to get a much better [nuclear] deal [with Iran]. It can be achieved. Iran is under economic pressure, and continuing to apply pressure and even increasing it can yield a much better diplomatic result."
Netanyahu's comments come ahead of a new round of talks between Iran and world powers in Geneva slated for the 20th of November.
In anticipation of the Geneva talks, Israel has actively worked to suppress any deal from emerging from the talks, saying that such would "prematurely ease international sanctions on Tehran, before it makes binding commitments to stop enriching uranium," according to AFP.
Israel and Western powers have repeatedly accused Iran of using its uranium enrichment program as a cover to develop its nuclear weapons capability, but Iran has repeatedly denied this allegation.
Netanyahu further said that he and Kerry would discuss the ongoing direct peace talks with the Palestinians that have largely fallen apart in recent weeks particularly following the announcement from PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas that his delegation has resigned from the negotiation process.
