By David Harris

The United States special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell is in Israel in a fresh push of long-stalled peace process.

Mitchell is expected to reach an agreement with Israel on a settlement freeze ahead of an anticipated meeting in New York later this month between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Outstanding differences

Netanyahu said last week that his country is likely to clinch a deal with the United States in a short time over the settlement activities in the West Bank.

The agreement would be finalized during Mitchell's visit, Netanyahu was quoted by local daily Ha'aretz as saying at a meeting with ministers from his hawkish Likud party.

Yet differences remain between the United States and Israel on what form a settlement freeze should take, for how long it should last, and what geographical areas it should encompass.

The definition of a freeze is contested. Netanyahu argues existing settlers should be able to expand their homes, villages and towns in accordance with natural growth. Larger families need more facilities, housing, schools and other municipal services.

However, US President Barack Obama said that is unacceptable.

Israel wants to see a freeze of some six months in duration, while Washington is pushing for a longer period of one to two years.

Israel wants to exclude Jerusalem from any deal, while the United States believes the eastern half of the city, also deemed occupied territory by the United Nations, should be included in the construction ban.

Mitchell's talks with Israeli officials in the Jewish country aim at narrowing the gap.

The parties have held several meetings and significant progress has been made, according to both sides, but not enough to achieve a deal.

Abbas and Netanyahu are likely to meet during the opening of the 64th United Nations General Assembly, which gets underway later this week. It is expected their meeting could be chaired by Obama.

However, the Israeli approval last week of hundreds of new homes in the West Bank settlements might be a new controversy.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) slammed Israel immediately, saying such a decision was "a direct challenge to US and international efforts to restart negotiations."

Mitchell needs to see sufficient progress in his talks with Israel to make sure that the tripartite meeting happens and is as successful as possible.

In addition to meeting Netanyahu, his agenda includes talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his most regular of Israeli interlocutors, Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Palestinians setting the tone

While most of Mitchell's frequent visits to the region focus on Israel, he will also meet with Palestinian leader during his latest tour in the region.

The Americans are well aware that one of the determining factors for Israeli-Palestinian talks is the Palestinian public opinion.

"The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) would be in a very bad situation without an Israeli presence in the West Bank, while a full Israeli military withdrawal would be very popular" among Palestinians, a senior adviser to Israeli defense establishment told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The advisor, who is close to the negotiations, said he believes that if Israel agrees to hand all security in the West Bank over to the Fatah-dominated PNA, Hamas will soon take control of the area.

However, the Palestinian leadership cannot allow that message to filter down to the people and so it remains firmly entrenched in public in its opposition to any Israeli activities in the West Bank.