AP sources: US, Israel in overtime talks to repair damaged ties
By Matthew Lee, APWednesday, March 24, 2010
AP sources: US, Israel try to repair ties
WASHINGTON — The United States and Israel are in overtime talks trying to win agreement on gestures Israel can take to restore confidence among Palestinians and the Obama administration.
U.S. officials told The Associated Press that the closed-door talks are aimed at getting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks back on track and salvaging a diplomatic visit marred by the worst U.S.-Israeli breach in years.
The officials says the administration’s special Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, was meeting late Wednesday afternoon with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who extended his stay by hours to work on a deal.
They hope to come up with mutually acceptable ideas to improve an atmosphere poisoned by announcements of new Jewish housing projects on land claimed by Palestinians in east Jerusalem.
