*Source: DTN News / AFP
(NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - July 27, 2009: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was on Monday visiting Israel in a bid to jumpstart Middle East peace talks, with Washington's Mideast envoy George Mitchell also in the region on a whistlestop tour. 
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, seen here, is visiting Israel in a bid to jumpstart Middle East peace talks, with Washington's Mideast envoy George Mitchell also in the region on a whistlestop tour.(AFP/Jack Guez)
Gates's talks in Israel were expected to centre on Iran's disputed nuclear efforts while Mitchell will focus on Washington's drive to reach a comprehensive peace between Israel, the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon.
Amid ongoing discord over settlements, one of the main stumbling blocks in the stalled peace process, a report in the Haaretz newspaper revealed that the number of settlers in the occupied West Bank now exceeded 300,000.
Israel's refusal to heed US demands to stop all settlement activity on occupied Palestinian land has seen tensions between the two staunch allies rise to a level not seen in years.
The US defence secretary met his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak and was to have a working lunch with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his one-day visit.
Mitchell, meanwhile, was meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo before heading to the West Bank for talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. He will meet Netanyahu on Tuesday.
Egypt is a key regional player and has been mediating unity talks between rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas and between Israel and Hamas for a prisoner swap to try to secure the release of an Israeli soldier held in Gaza.
Washington is committed to a "comprehensive peace in the Middle East and that includes Israel and Palestine, Israel and Syria, Israel and Lebanon and normal relations with all countries in the region," Mitchell was quoted as saying after meeting Barak on Sunday.
Mitchell began his latest regional tour in Damascus, his second visit since June to a country that US President Barack Obama has sought to re-engage as part of a changed approach to the region from his predecessor George W. Bush.
In the Syrian capital, the former US senator said he had a "very candid and positive conversation" with President Bashar al-Assad.
"I discussed with President Assad the prospects for moving forward on our goals of comprehensive peace in the region and improved bilateral ties between Syria and the United States," said Mitchell, who played a key role in brokering the Good Friday peace accords in Northern Ireland in 1998.
Obama is determined to reach a comprehensive peace between Israel and all its Arab neighbours in order to guarantee "stability, security and prosperity" in the region, Mitchell said in Damascus.
"If we are to succeed, we will need Arabs and Israelis alike to work with us to bring about comprehensive peace.
"We will welcome the full cooperation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic in this historic endeavour."
Syria and Israel held four rounds of indirect preliminary negotiations through Turkish mediators last year but Syria broke them off after Israel launched its deadly war on the Gaza Strip in December.
In Israel, discord on settlements was likely to dominate Mitchell's meetings, with hawkish premier Netanyahu so far refusing to heed repeated US calls for Israel to halt all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.
"Naturally even within this friendly relationship there isn't total agreement on everything and on several issues we are trying to reach that understanding in order for us to be able to promote our common interests of peace, security and stability," Netanyahu told the cabinet on Sunday.
The sides are close to a compromise under which the United States would allow Israel to finish a limited number of construction projects that are well under way in the Palestinian territory, according to the Israeli press.
"The Americans are beginning to understand that the projects under way ... cannot be stopped," Industry Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer told public radio on Monday.
As part of the flurry of diplomatic activity, US National Security Advisor James Jones will arrive in Israel on Tuesday for a three-day visit.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, seen here, is visiting Israel in a bid to jumpstart Middle East peace talks, with Washington's Mideast envoy George Mitchell also in the region on a whistlestop tour.(AFP/Jack Guez)
Gates's talks in Israel were expected to centre on Iran's disputed nuclear efforts while Mitchell will focus on Washington's drive to reach a comprehensive peace between Israel, the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon.
Amid ongoing discord over settlements, one of the main stumbling blocks in the stalled peace process, a report in the Haaretz newspaper revealed that the number of settlers in the occupied West Bank now exceeded 300,000.
Israel's refusal to heed US demands to stop all settlement activity on occupied Palestinian land has seen tensions between the two staunch allies rise to a level not seen in years.
The US defence secretary met his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak and was to have a working lunch with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his one-day visit.
Mitchell, meanwhile, was meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo before heading to the West Bank for talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. He will meet Netanyahu on Tuesday.
Egypt is a key regional player and has been mediating unity talks between rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas and between Israel and Hamas for a prisoner swap to try to secure the release of an Israeli soldier held in Gaza.
Washington is committed to a "comprehensive peace in the Middle East and that includes Israel and Palestine, Israel and Syria, Israel and Lebanon and normal relations with all countries in the region," Mitchell was quoted as saying after meeting Barak on Sunday.
Mitchell began his latest regional tour in Damascus, his second visit since June to a country that US President Barack Obama has sought to re-engage as part of a changed approach to the region from his predecessor George W. Bush.
In the Syrian capital, the former US senator said he had a "very candid and positive conversation" with President Bashar al-Assad.
"I discussed with President Assad the prospects for moving forward on our goals of comprehensive peace in the region and improved bilateral ties between Syria and the United States," said Mitchell, who played a key role in brokering the Good Friday peace accords in Northern Ireland in 1998.
Obama is determined to reach a comprehensive peace between Israel and all its Arab neighbours in order to guarantee "stability, security and prosperity" in the region, Mitchell said in Damascus.
"If we are to succeed, we will need Arabs and Israelis alike to work with us to bring about comprehensive peace.
"We will welcome the full cooperation of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic in this historic endeavour."
Syria and Israel held four rounds of indirect preliminary negotiations through Turkish mediators last year but Syria broke them off after Israel launched its deadly war on the Gaza Strip in December.
In Israel, discord on settlements was likely to dominate Mitchell's meetings, with hawkish premier Netanyahu so far refusing to heed repeated US calls for Israel to halt all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.
"Naturally even within this friendly relationship there isn't total agreement on everything and on several issues we are trying to reach that understanding in order for us to be able to promote our common interests of peace, security and stability," Netanyahu told the cabinet on Sunday.
The sides are close to a compromise under which the United States would allow Israel to finish a limited number of construction projects that are well under way in the Palestinian territory, according to the Israeli press.
"The Americans are beginning to understand that the projects under way ... cannot be stopped," Industry Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer told public radio on Monday.
As part of the flurry of diplomatic activity, US National Security Advisor James Jones will arrive in Israel on Tuesday for a three-day visit.
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