Mideast peace the keynote of Obama address to U.N. General Assembly

United Nations (CNN) -- U.S. President Barack Obama walked a Middle East diplomatic tightrope Wednesday, telling members of the United Nations General Assembly that he shares their frustration with the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict while resisting a growing push for official U.N. recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

Obama used his address to the 66th session of the U.N. General Assembly to tackle a range of issues relating to the so-called Arab Spring, celebrating the toppling of autocratic rulers in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, while expressing support for reform movements in Bahrain, Yemen, and elsewhere.

The president also sought to rally international support for African famine relief, and provided backing for both European economic efforts and international measures to combat climate change.

It was Obama's balancing act with regard to the Israelis and Palestinians, however, that captured the attention of most international observers. The president has been trying to mend political fences with wary backers of Israel at home while avoiding the diplomatic fallout that would accompany a U.S. veto of a U.N. Security Council measure endorsing recognition of a Palestinian state.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is urging the United Nations to recognize an independent Palestinian state this week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that such a move would undermine an already fragile peace process.

"I know that many are frustrated by the lack of progress," Obama told members of the General Assembly. "So am I. But the question isn't the goal we seek -- the question is how to reach it. And I am convinced that there is no shortcut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades."

"Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the U.N.," Obama said. "One year ago, I stood at this podium and called for an independent Palestine. I believed then -- and I believe now -- that the Palestinian people deserve a state of their own. But what I also said is that genuine peace can only be realized between Israelis and Palestinians themselves."

He said that a year later, despite extensive U.S. efforts, "the parties have not bridged their differences."

"Faced with this stalemate, I put forward a new basis for negotiations in May. That basis is clear, and well-known to all of us here. Israelis must know that any agreement provides assurances for their security. Palestinians deserve to know the territorial basis of their state."

Later, Obama met with Netanyahu and declared that "the bonds between the U.S. and Israel are unbreakable." Netanyahu called U.S. opposition to immediate U.N. recognition of Palestinian statehood a "badge of honor."

Obama told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in talks on Tuesday that the Palestinian effort would not advance a "shared goal" of resolving the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said Liz Sherwood-Randall, a top U.S. National Security Council aide.

Obama urged Erdogan to continue work toward patching up Turkey's strained relations with Israel, a vital U.S. ally in the Middle East, and expressed condolences for the deaths of at least three people in a suspected bombing in Ankara on Tuesday, Sherwood-Randall said. And he led a meeting of an open government partnership with Brazil and other countries dedicated to improving government transparency around the world.

For the world in general, Obama told the General Assembly Wednesday that "the tide of war is receding."

"When I took office, roughly 180,000 Americans were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan," Obama said. "by the end of this year, that number will be cut in half, and it will continue to decline. This is critical to the sovereignty of Iraq and Afghanistan, and to the strength of the United States as we build our nation at home."

He said the belief that change could come through violence died with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's demise. He also said this "has been a difficult decade. But today, we stand at a crossroads of history with the chance to move decisively in the direction of peace."

Obama has sought to reinforce a foreign policy strategy this week that emphasizes cooperation and shared responsibility after what has been criticized as a "might makes right" posture by the United States in past decades.

"The Obama administration has dramatically changed America's course at the United Nations to advance our interests and values and help forge a more secure and prosperous world," declared a White House document released Tuesday. "We have repaired frayed relations with countries around the world. We have ended needless American isolation on a range of issues. And as a consequence, we have gotten strong cooperation on things that matter most to our national security interest. "

The document cited "concrete results" at the United Nations that it said advanced "U.S. foreign policy objectives and American security," including:

-- The stiffest U.N. sanctions ever against Iran and North Korea;

-- Efforts to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials;

-- The Libya intervention and subsequent efforts to aid the political transition there;

-- The peaceful independence of Southern Sudan; and,

-- U.N. assistance in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In addition, the White House document said the United States is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance for the Horn of Africa famine, with most of the $600 million provided so far funneled through U.N. agencies.

Before Obama spoke to the Libya Contact Group Tuesday, the nation's new flag was raised, reflecting the leadership change from Moammar Gadhafi to the National Transitional Council, prompting a standing ovation in the room.

"Libya is a lesson in what the international community can achieve when we stand together as one," Obama told his fellow leaders. "As I said at the beginning of this process, we cannot and should not intervene every time there's an injustice in the world. Yet it's also true that there are times where the world should have and could have summoned the will to prevent the killing of innocents on a horrific scale. And we are forever haunted by the atrocities we did not prevent, and the lives we did not save. But this time was different. This time, we, through the United Nations, found the courage and the collective will to act."

Obama also lauded the Arab League for requesting the U.N.-sanctioned intervention in Libya, as well as "Arab states who joined the coalition, as equal partners."

He pledged continued U.S. support for the NATO-led military mission and humanitarian assistance, and urged the Libyan people to reject "violent extremism" as they embark on democratic transition.

"To the Libyan people, this is your chance," Obama concluded. "And today the world is saying, with one unmistakable voice -- we will stand with you as you seize this moment of promise; as you reach for the freedom, the dignity and the opportunity you deserve."