His Majesty King Abdullah II said on Wednesday that the US President Barack Obama is not only committed to an agenda to bring Israelis and Palestinians closer together in his efforts to achieve peace, but is also looking more to a regional approach that will hopefully bring together all the parties concerned.

Speaking during an interview with National Public Radio in the US, King Abdullah said Israeli economic development initiatives for the Palestinian territories will not solve the core problem, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He stressed that this approach could not be a substitute for a two-state solution.

He stressed that the majority of Palestinians and Israelis still wants a negotiated settlement, adding that the Arab Peace Initiative is the most modern proposal in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. "It is including Israel [as] a partner in the world with a third of the world that does not recognize it today," he added.

King Abdullah said that the crossroads that Israel will face in 2009 is does it want to be apart of the neighborhood or does it want to remain a fortress.

In response to a question about challenges to peace, King Abdullah said it was important to remain optimistic. "If we are discouraged that means that we've given up. I think for generations to come up, that would be a disaster," he said.