Defense Minister Ehud Barak
will meet US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell in London next Monday. Barak will be accompanied by Head of the Defense Ministry's Diplomatic-Security Bureau Amos Gilad and special envoy Yitzhak Molcho.
On Thursday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met
with ministers Barak, Avigdor Lieberman, Moshe Yaalon, Benny Begin and Dan Meridor to discuss the issues raised during Barak and Mitchell's previous meeting
in New York this week.
In their Monday meeting Barak will convey to Mitchell the steps Israel is willing to take to advance the dialogue with the Palestinians. A senior source at Barak's office said these moves do not include freezing construction in the settlements.
Meanwhile, Mitchell is expected to convey to Barak President Barack Obama's answers to the Israeli demands that were presented in the previous meeting.
Israel demanded,
among other things, that the US clarify the end goals of the regional peace plan, the talks with the Palestinians and the process of normalization vis-à-vis the Arab states. It also demanded that Arab states extend goodwill gestures to Israel before negotiations can proceed.
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