U.S. Senator John Kerry has warned that a failure of a two-state solution in the Middle East would be "disastrous", at his confirmation hearing as Secretary of State, BBC News reported.
But Sen Kerry said he believes there is a "way forward" on peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
U.S.-brokered peace talks in the Middle East broke down in 2010.
Sen Kerry sailed through his hearing to replace Hillary Clinton at the helm of the state department.A Vietnam veteran and a senator since 1985, he was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, losing the election to George W Bush.
He is chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, which conducted Thursday's hearing. It was led instead by Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey.
Sen Kerry warned "the window or door on a two-state solution could shut – and that would be disastrous for all concerned".
"Perhaps this can be a moment where we can renew some kind of effort to get the parties into a discussion to have a different track than we have been on over the last couple of years," he said, adding that it was unclear what government would emerge from Israel's recent election.
The Massachusetts senator did not give details of possible plan, saying he did not want to prejudice any new effort.
During the five-hour hearing, Sen Kerry also said "we will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon". "I repeat here today: our policy is not containment. It is prevention and the clock is ticking on our efforts to secure responsible compliance," he told the panel.
He said he hoped the U.S. and its allies would maintain diplomatic pressure against Iran, but said Iran had to prove its nuclear program was solely for peaceful purposes.
Sen Kerry also spoke about American efforts to strengthen its relationship with China, saying it would be "a tough slog". And he described himself as a "passionate advocate" on battling global warming.
