US Middle East envoy George Mitchell began talks today with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a freeze on Israeli settlements sought by Washington and the Palestinians.
Mr Mitchell, who arrived in Israel on Saturday, has been trying to prepare a package under which Israel would halt construction in settlements in the occupied West Bank and Arab nations would take initial steps toward recognising Israel.
"We hope to bring this phase of our discussions to early conclusion and to move forward in our common search for a comprehensive peace in the region," Mr Mitchell told reporters at the start of the meeting in Jerusalem, indicating he hoped to wrap up a deal.
Washington hopes to arrange a three-way meeting involving President Barack Obama, President Mahmoud Abbas and Mr Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly in New York next week. Those talks could depend on the outcome of Mr Mitchell's meeting with Mr Netanyahu this morning and later in the day with Mr Abbas in the West Bank.
Defying Mr Obama, Mr Netanyahu said yesterday Israel would not halt all building in West Bank settlements as demanded by Washington but could limit its scope to help to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.
But Mr Abbas has said he would not return to negotiations suspended since December until Israel froze all settlement activity in line with a 2003 peace "road map."
Last week, Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak drew a US rebuke by approving 455 building permits in settlements in the West Bank, land Israel captured from Jordan in a 1967 war and which Palestinians want as part of a future state. The move was widely seen in Israel as a bid to placate settlers before any deal with Washington on construction limitations.
But Israel also has made clear it would continue constructing 2,500 settler homes already being built and that any restrictions would not include Jewish housing in East Jerusalem, which it also captured in the fighting 42 years ago.
Some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and in Arab East Jerusalem, also captured in 1967, alongside some three million Palestinians. The World Court calls the settlements illegal and Palestinians say the enclaves could deny them a viable state.
Reuters