Israel-Palestine peace process should restart, Kerry tells World Economic Forum

Israeli President Shimon Peres urged leaders from both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict to restart peace talks, calling a viable two-state solution a "real possibility."

Speaking on the sidelines of the Middle East World Economic Forum in Jordan on Sunday, Peres said there is no time to waste.

"Two points are urgent: we shouldn't lose the opportunity because it will he replaced by great disappointment," Peres said, according to Agence France-Presse.

"We have to come over skepticism and doubts. Second, I feel it is a real possibility."

In separate remarks in Jordan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said any peace plan must include Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners and allowing refugees to return home.

Haaretz said Abbas also called for the return of 1967 borders, urging Israel to read the Arab Peace Initiative.

Abbas said temporary borders "will not end the conflict … they will prolong it."

The Middle East leaders also met this weekend with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who said violence is preventing economic and social recovery.

Kerry told reporters that a plan exists to grow Palestine's economy by 50 per cent in three years, but it can't work without peace.

"Do we want to live in a permanent Intifada?" Kerry said. "The greatest existential threat and the greatest economic threat is the lack of peace."

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