U.S. envoy assures Israel of strong alliance

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. envoy George Mitchell said on Tuesday Washington was seeking swift renewal of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and promised Israel its alliance with the United States would remain strong despite differences.

"We all share an obligation to create the conditions for the prompt resumption and early conclusion of negotiations," Mitchell said at a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

In the most public rift between the United States and Israel in a decade, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are at odds over Jewish settlement expansion and the Israeli leader's reluctance to endorse Palestinian statehood.

With Israelis fearing that Obama hoped to repair his country's image among Arabs by fostering a dispute with Netanyahu, Mitchell spoke in conciliatory terms to reporters.

"Let me be clear. These are not disagreements among adversaries. The United States and Israel are and will remain close allies and friends," Mitchell said.

Mitchell, Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state "side by side in peace and security with the Jewish state of Israel."

In an address to the Muslim world in Cairo last week, Obama called on Israel to stop settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and accept the right of Palestinians to a state.

Peres, whose post is largely ceremonial, echoed Obama, saying it was time "to take the bull by the horns" and pursue "a state for us and state for the Palestinians."

POLICY SPEECH

Under pressure to soften his positions, Netanyahu will spell out his policy on peacemaking with the Palestinians in a speech on Sunday. His security cabinet was due to meet on Wednesday to consider U.S. calls to ease the blockade of the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas Islamists who oppose U.S.-sponsored peace efforts.

Netanyahu, who met Mitchell later in the day, said he hoped their talks would "advance our quest for peace and security with our Palestinian neighbors and the entire Arab world."

"That's our goal. It's our common goal, and I look forward to working with you to accomplish it," Netanyahu told the U.S. envoy.

Mitchell said he hoped the allies could work through the issues, calling them "complex and many," to reach a regional peace. He also assured Netanyahu the United States' "commitment to Israel's security is unshakeable."

Mitchell will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday.

Abbas has said it would be useless to resume talks with Israel unless Netanyahu froze settlement building and accepted a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Obama spoke to Netanyahu by phone on Monday. The White House said the president "reiterated the principal elements of his Cairo speech, including his commitment to Israel's security."

Netanyahu has said Israel's security is paramount in peace efforts and any self-governing Palestinian entity must be demilitarized and have limited powers of sovereignty.

(Editing by Andrew Dobbie)