New optimism for peace process after Netanyahu meets Brown

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met in London with his British counterpart Gordon Brown. Speaking to the press after their meeting, Brown said he was now "more optimistic" than before about the prospects for peace in the Middle East. "I'm increasingly confident that there is a genuine will to make progress, that a freeze in [settlement] activity would result in meaningful steps towards normalization from Arab states," the British prime minister said.

Netanyahu made a clear distinction between building in eastern Jerusalem and in other areas of the West Bank. "Jerusalem is not a settlement," Netanyahu said at a joint news conference following the meeting. "We have been building there for 3,000 years."

Before meeting with US envoy George Mitchell in London on Wednesday, Netanyahu said that "we are making headway". The Israeli prime minister will travel to Berlin and meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel there.