US Secretary of State John Kerry told a Zionist gathering at the United Nations on Wednesday that a two-state solution in the Middle East was "not an impossible dream" but would require courage.

US Secretary of State John Kerry told a Zionist gathering at the United Nations on Wednesday that a two-state solution in the Middle East was "not an impossible dream" but would require courage.

Kerry traveled to UN headquarters in New York to attend a commemoration of the 1975 speech delivered by the Zionist ambassador Chaim Herzog denouncing a UN resolution that declared Zionism a form of racism.

"The Zionist dream embraces the concept of Israel as a Jewish democracy... That dream can only be upheld by two states living side by side in security " Kerry told the event.

"We all know from years of discussion and efforts: this is not an impossible dream. It is achievable," he added.

His remarks followed Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week that saw little signs of progress in efforts to revive Zionist-Palestinian peace talks.

Those talks have been comatose since Kerry's failed peace mission in April last year.

Kerry argued that choosing to recognize a Palestinian state "demands courage, demands leadership" and likened that choice to Herzog's actions at the UN 40 years ago.

The call for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement resonated at the United Nations, where reviving the peace process is becoming a top agenda item at the Security Council.

Council members are weighing a draft resolution, presented by New Zealand, that declares the two-state solution as "the only credible pathway to peace" and demands that both sides prepare for new talks.

International diplomats desperately want to revive peace talks to avoid a slide into more violence that many fear could lead to a third Palestinian intifada.

A weeks-long wave of violence has claimed the lives of at least 77 Palestinians.