(ISRAEL, BARAK, TALKS, MITCHELL, SETTLEMENTS, BUILDING)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday after talks with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell it was too early to say whether Israel might declare a temporary freeze on settlements in the West Bank.
Barak said the talks with Mitchell, which lasted over four hours, were "positive" but that there are still "differences."
Asked whether Israel would declare a temporary settlement building freeze, he said: "I think that it`s a little bit too early to predict. We are considering every positive contribution Israel can make toward the taking off of a significant important peace effort."
U.S. President Barack Obama, in a rare rift between Israel and the United States, is pushing for a building freeze in a bid to spur the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Earlier this week Israel`s biggest newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, reported that Barak would propose a three-month halt to construction starts in settlements but allow current building work to continue.
Barak said the talks were not mired down by the settlements issue. "I don`t think we are stuck, I don`t think we are stuck now. We are continuing talks on a wide variety of subjects, to clarify things and reach understandings," Barak said.
"The talks were positive and in a good atmosphere, even though there are still differences," he added.
Barak said the talks with Mitchell covered a wide range of issues, including a U.S.-led regional peace initiative which "we will support full-heartedly."
A joint statement from the two nations was expected later Tuesday.
Mitchell, who posed for photographers at the start of the meeting in a New York hotel, did not take questions.
Barak said a meeting between Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was being arranged in the next one to three weeks, Barak said.
Monday Israel approved construction of 50 new homes at a West Bank settlement as part of a larger development, an expansion that would defy the U.S. call for a building freeze.
Netanyahu has said he would allow some construction to continue to match population growth within existing settlements.
(Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem; Reporting by David Storey)
Original article
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