Direct ME peace talks to start 'in weeks': Israel

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak yesterday said he saw direct peace negotiations with the Palestinians starting "within a few weeks," his office said in a statement.
"There really is a good chance that we are on the verge of direct talks between us and the Palestinians on all the issues," the statement quoted Barak as saying after he met a group of US senators in Jerusalem.
His comments were made just hours after Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with Barak Obama at the White House, at which the US leader said he was expecting to see direct talks "well before" the end of September.
Barak said he had spoken by phone with Netanyahu after Tuesday's White House talks, which both Obama and Netanyahu presented as very positive.
"There will be other ups and downs and difficult moments during this process," Barak said. "But I hope, and believe, that within a few weeks we will have started direct talks that will advance the prospects of peace and bolster the security and vital interests of the state of Israel."
Since May, the two sides have been engaged in so-called proximity talks, with US special envoy George Mitchell shuttling between officials in Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The indirect talks are scheduled to last four months, after which -- progress permitting -- the two parties would sit down face-to-face for what would be their first direct peace negotiations in more than 18 months.
The Palestinians froze the negotiations in December 2008 when Israel launched a deadly 22-day offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to halt rocket attacks.