Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will meet US President Obama at the White house today. Ahead of the talks Israeli and Palestinian sides are engaged in a war of words over Israel’s demands to recognize it as a jewish state before any peace deal is signed.

Barack Obama and Mahmoud Abbas meeting comes at a time when US is trying to give a push to revive the stalled peace process in West Asia. A deadline of April 29 has been set for the Israeli and Palestinian sides to agree on a framework to restart the stalled direct peace talks. However the war of words can derail the efforts to bring them to the negotiating table. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out any deal with the Palestinians unless they recognize Israel as the Jewish state and give up their refugees' right of return. The Palestinians have rejected the demand saying it would deny their historical narrative and put breaks on the right of their refugees to return to homes they fled from or were forced out of during the 1948 war which led to the creation of Israel.