The United States remains committed to forging an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal despite electoral gains this week by Republicans who are traditionally more sympathetic to Israel, dpa reported.
US State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said the Obama administration still views the peace process as a priority and will work with Congress to see it through.
"It's going to remain a priority for this administration. And obviously, we're going to work hand in glove with Congress to advance direct negotiations and to ultimately reach a settlement," he said.
Voters swept Republicans into control of the House of Representatives Tuesday and weakened the Democratic majority in the Senate in an election largely seen as a referendum on Obama's domestic policies.
Although Israel enjoys broad support across both parties, Republicans are seen as taking a more hardline approach. The incoming chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Commitee, Ileana Ros- Lehtinen, is strongly pro-Israel.
The Israeli government is hopeful that a Republican majority House come January will be able to alleviate the pressure President Barack Obama has placed on Israel to negotiate peace with the Palestinians and to place a freeze on settlement expansions.
"The fact that Obama lost the majority in the House of Representatives will play into Israel's hands," a senior Israeli official, quoted anonymously by Israel Army Radio, said this week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rebuffed Obama's request to extend a settlement freeze that expired in September, is due to arrive in the United States.
Netanyahu is scheduled to address a Jewish Federations of North America gathering in New Orleans on Monday, and will meet privately with Vice President Joe Biden, who is also attending the conference. Netanyahu is then expected to meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in either New York or Washington.
Obama launched the first direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians in September, but those talks have since stalled, largely over the settlement construction issue.
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