Jerusalem - US envoy George Mitchell wrapped up Sunday his latest attempt to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table, meeting Israeli officials in the early afternoon, after flying to Cairo in the morning for talks with Egyptian leaders. No details were initially available from the talks Mitchell held in Jerusalem with Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
But indicating that a return to negotiations is not in the immediate offing, Israel Radio reported that two senior Israeli officials are to fly to Washington this week to continue discussions.
It was Mitchell's second meeting with Netanyahu since he arrived in the region Wednesday night and began his meetings on Thursday morning.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were suspended one year ago, as Israel entered an election period. They have not been resumed, despite efforts by the US to get them going again.
A three-way summit between Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and President Barack Obama went ahead in New York without the negotiations being renewed, and Obama announced instead that the sides would begin intense contacts in a bid to revive the talks later this autumn, possibly by late October.
Netanyahu has said he is keen to begin negotiations, but Abbas refuses unless Israel agrees to halt all construction in West Bank settlements.
Netanyahu rejected this demand, saying that while Israel will build no new settlements, construction will go ahead in existing ones to accommodate population expansion, so-called "natural growth."
Although reports have indicated that Israel is prepared to go ahead with a temporary construction freeze, Mitchell, despite repeated visits to the region and meetings with officials, has been unable to bring the sides together to the point where both agree to restart the talks.
On Friday Abbas told Mitchell that Palestinians were sticking to their call for a total settlement freeze.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat also indicated that the Palestinians are also unwilling to change any of their other demands, and negotiations should resume exactly where they ended a year ago, before Israel's centrist government headed by Ehud Olmert was replaced with the one led by Netanyahu.
The Palestinians also want discussions to include the future of Jerusalem and the fate 4.5 million Palestinian refugees and exiles, demands Netanyahu rejects.
