Obama calls for end to Israeli settlement activities

US President Barack Obama said during his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday that Israeli settlement activity must end for there to be progress in the peace process with Palestinians. 'Settlements have to be stopped in order for us to move forward,' Obama said, placing him at odds with the conservative prime minister, whose government appears poised to build a new settlement in the West Bank. Obama held the meeting with Netanyahu in an effort to jump start the stumbling peace process, but the two leaders also focused heavily on Iran's nuclear aspirations. Obama and Netanyahu agreed that a nuclear armed Iran could pose a serious threat and destabilise the region. 'The worst danger we face is that Iran would develop nuclear military capabilities,' Netanyahu said. The two leaders held an unusually long meeting at the White House hours after reports emerged that Israel was preparing to begin construction of the first completely new Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank in 13 years. Obama and Netanyahu also differed over the US-backed two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu stopped short of endorsing Palestinian statehood but said his government is ready to begin immediate negotiations that would be contingent on the Palestinians eventually agreeing to recognize Israel's security needs and its legitimacy as a Jewish state. 'If those conditions are met - Israel's security conditions are met, and there's recognition of Israel's legitimacy - its permanent legitimacy, then I think we can envision an arrangement where Palestinians and Israelis live side by side in dignity, security and in peace,' Netanyahu said.