NEW YORK (AFP) — US envoy George Mitchell and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak held a "constructive" meeting on the ailing Middle Peace process, the pair said afterwards in a joint statement.
Mitchell and Barak were meeting in New York as President Barack Obama's administration and the right-leaning government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clashed over US demands for a freeze on Jewish settlements in the occupied territory.
The discussions covered the "measures needed to create a climate conducive to peace," the statement said.
The issues addressed included "incitement by the Palestinians; steps by Arab states toward normalization with Israel; and, from Israel, actions including on access and movement in the West Bank and on settlement activity," the pair said after the meeting.
"The discussions were constructive and will continue soon."
Earlier State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington a Mitchell aide had warned the meeting was "part of our ongoing dialogue," and that the United States "(doesn't) expect any dramatic agreement today."
Mitchell and Barak refused to answer any questions as the meeting began around 1205 GMT at the Hotel Intercontinental in Manhattan -- except when Barak was asked if he was optimistic about the talks because he was smiling.
"It means a smile doesn't cost too much," Barak shot back as the meeting kicked off with a photo call for news photographers. "We are naturally positive, every day."
Ties between Israel and its major ally the United States have strained in recent weeks over the US administration's insistence that the Jewish state must halt settlement building in the West Bank.
On Monday the State Department said it was not ruling out the possibility of a compromise with Israel on a settlement freeze, amid reports that Israel might be ready to agree to stall settlement construction for three months.
The New York Times first reported news of a possible settlement freeze on Monday, citing Israeli officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
But Kelly declined to comment directly on the reports.
The newspaper said the freeze could last three to six months and would be presented as a proposal by Barak during his talks Tuesday with Mitchell.
Netanyahu, who accepted the idea of a Palestinian state for the first time during a mid-June address, has refused to stop settlement construction.
And according to the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, the three-month freeze envisioned by Netanyahu would not include the thousands of buildings already under construction in many settlements, nor new building in East Jerusalem.
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