Obama: Expectations for Middle East Peace Too High

President Barack Obama says his administration overestimated its ability to persuade the Israelis and Palestinians to resume meaningful peace talks.

Both parties have been unwilling to make the bold gestures needed to move the process forward, Obama said. If the United States had anticipated that earlier, he said he might not have raised his expectations so high.

The United States will continue to work toward a two-state solution in which Israel is secure and the Palestinians have sovereignty, Obama said in an interview with Time magazine published Thursday.