U.S. presses new Israeli government to back two-state solution

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden pressed Israel on Tuesday to support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a speech to the leading U.S. pro-Israel lobby.

Israel's new right-leaning government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far shied away from publicly supporting Palestinian statehood, an omission that has dismayed U.S., Arab and European officials.

Biden, speaking to a conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), said Palestinians must halt militant violence and Israel "has to work for a two-state solution ... not build more settlements, dismantle existing outposts and allow Palestinians freedom of movement."

Biden's comments came ahead of a meeting between Israeli President Shimon Peres and President Barack Obama later on Tuesday and less than two weeks before Netanyahu visits the White House.

In a speech to the AIPAC on Monday, Netanyahu said he was ready to begin Israeli-Palestinian peace talks immediately but he made no reference to a Palestinian state.

Obama has made clear his own commitment to the two-state solution, which has been the basis for U.S. policy in the Middle East conflict for years, and has nudged Netanyahu to accept the goal of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

(Reporting by David Alexander, writing by Ross Colvin, Editing by Sandra Maler)