King Hussein confers with Israel's Peres

King Hussein of Jordan on Monday met with former Israeli Premier Shimon Peres.

They discuss the stalemated Middle East peace process. A Jordanian official source said that after meeting with King Hussein, Peres delivered a lecture on Israeli regional policy in Amman.

In his lecture Peres said, "It is ripe time now to change the Israeli rightist government led by Benjamin Netanyahu." He added, "I did not vote for Netanyahu. I did not change my mind." He asserted that he does not want to see Jerusalem under dispute, noting that the Jerusalem's fate should be decided upon during final negotiations.

Peres had said on many occasions that it is in Israel's interest to help build a Palestinian state for moral and practical reasons. One such reason cited by Peres is the fact that a much higher population growth rate by Palestinians will seriously dilute the nature of Israel as a "Jewish" state and give Palestinians a majority status. Peres is highly admired by many world leaders for his leadership, and genuine desire to compromise to find a just and humane solution to the Israel- Arab conflict that would allow for coexistence.