John Kerry urges Israelis and Palestinians to 'show restraint'

The U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, urged the Palestinians and the Israelis on Tuesday to "show restraint" after two controversial decisions of the Palestinian leadership and the Government of Hebrew.

"We urge both sides to exercise restraint," Kerry said after a meeting with his counterparts from the NATO member states in Brussels.

The Palestinian leadership has asked to join the 15 UN agencies, while the Israeli government has relaunched the auction for the project that would build 708 homes in a neighborhood in the East of Jerusalem.

On the other hand, John Kerry will not go on Wednesday in Ramallah, as expected, to meet with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said an U.S. official on Tuesday.

"We will not travel tomorrow ( Wednesday)," said a senior official of the State Department.

Tuesday morning, the U.S. diplomat met for the second time in 24 hours with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his efforts to save the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

The U.S. Secretary of State tries to find a compromise on the issue of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, which could lead to the release of Jonathan Pollard, sentenced to life in prison in the United States for spying for the benefit of the Jew state.

The White House announced on Tuesday that President Barack Obama has not yet taken any decision regarding the release of the spy Jonathan Pollard, demanded by Israel in exchange for the extension of the peace negotiations.

"The president has not yet made ​​the decision to release Jonathan Pollard," said the White House spokesman Jay Carney.

However, Carney did not reject the idea that Pollard could be pardoned or benefit from a reduction of penalty.

Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst, is considered a national hero in Israel. He was convicted in 1987 and received an Israeli citizenship eight years later.

Under some proposals, the spy should be released before mid-April, the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations will be extended and the number of prisoners that could be released will increase, said a source close to the negotiations.

Israel demands that the peace talks to be extended until the end of the year.