Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed with a key US envoy Wednesday that "meaningful" talks must start with Palestinians, but there was no sign of progress on the vexed settlement issue.
The Israeli and Palestinian leaders are likely to hold their first meeting in the coming weeks, both sides indicated Wednesday, in what would be an important step toward a formal resumption of peace talks and a signal achievement for President Barack Obama.
The indications came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held four hours of talks with Obama's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, in London on Wednesday. Mitchell has been pressing Israel to halt construction of West Bank settlements as a confidence-building gesture toward the Palestinians, and the issue has turned into an unusually public disagreement between the two allies.
In a joint statement, the hawkish premier and US Middle East envoy George Mitchell said Israeli and US officials will meet again next week in the United States to pursue efforts to revive the moribund peace process.
The sides "agreed on the importance of restarting meaningful negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians and working toward a comprehensive peace."
"All sides need to take concrete steps toward peace," it added, avoiding however any direct reference to Washington's demand that Israel freeze all settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem ahead of the renewal of peace talks.
The statement was issued at the end of the premier's visit to London, during which Netanyahu also met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and shortly before the Israeli leader left for Germany, where he will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday.
In Washington, a State Department official, who requested anonymity, said next week's meeting would be between Mitchell and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, "quite likely" in New York, where the US envoy lives.
Speaking to reporters after arriving in Berlin, Netanyahu said that "there are still a number of issues that haven't been finalised in our talks with the United States... there has been certain progress but there is still work to be done."
Merkel was also set to press Netanyahu on settlements.
"The German government believes that no further settlements should be built in the occupied territories," said a spokesman in Berlin, Netanyahu's second and last stop in a four-day European trip.