President Barack Obama has determined Israeli and Palestinian leaders will make no significant progress toward peace by the time he leaves office in early 2017, according to White House officials.
The statement comes as Obama prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House Monday.
The summit is seen as an attempt to mend diplomatic ties and deepen the U.S. military relationship with the Israeli government, which strongly opposed the Iran nuclear deal.
Obama will also use the meeting to push Netanyahu for details on his policies toward Palestinians, said Rob Malley, a White House National Security Council Middle East official.
"The president has said we have to reach a realistic assessment that there will not be a comprehensive final status agreement in the remainder of his term, and there likely may not be meaningful negotiations between the two sides," Malley said.
"Given that reality, which is a new one, how does the prime minister himself see Israel going forward?" Malley asked.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu suspended the appointment of Ran Baratz as his new top spokesman, following Facebook posts Baratz wrote earlier this year describing Obama as anti-Semitic and Secretary of State John Kerry as "childish," according to The Jerusalem Post.
The Obama administration put significant effort into reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which is aimed at creating a separate state of Palestine alongside Israel.
But the talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority collapsed in 2014. Since then, there has been a surge in violence between Palestinians and Israelis.
