Daniel Kurtzer, former ambassador to Israel and advisor of U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama, said Tuesday that Jerusalem must be included in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

"It will be impossible to make progress on serious peace talks without putting the future of Jerusalem on the table," Kurtzer said in a conference organized by the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (JPPPI).

Kurtzer, who has been appointed Obama's advisor for the Middle East, said that future governments will have to deal with the issue of Jerusalem, as opposed to the current Israeli administration which is not.

JPPPI head and Winograd war panel member Yechezkel Dror said that Jerusalem must become the cultural center of the Jewish people.

Kurtzer said in response that "before we do that, we must first accept a number of facts and the political reality of Arabs who live in East Jerusalem who do not feel part of the city.