Netanyahu hopes for talks with Palestinians in weeks

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a joint news conference with his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi (not pictured) at his office in Jerusalem February 2, 2010.

HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he had reason to hope stalled peace talks with the Palestinians could resume within weeks.

"I have a basis to hope, in a realistic way, that in the coming weeks we will renew the peace process with the Palestinians," Netanyahu said at a keynote national security conference in Herzilya, near Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu reiterated Israel was ready to renew without preconditions the talks that have not convened since a Gaza war erupted in December 2008.

"I hope that if there's a will on the Palestinian side, not only to build the Palestinian economy and institutions but to start building peace itself ... if the desire is there, we will see the resumption of the process in the coming weeks," he said.

Nabil Abu Rdainah, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters in response: "We are ready to resume negotiations within days if Netanyahu commits to freezing settlement (construction), including Jerusalem."

Abbas has rejected a temporary freeze ordered by Netanyahu in November on settlement building in occupied land as insufficient.

Israel has refused to halt construction in East Jerusalem which it captured in a 1967 war and annexed as part of its capital in a move not recognized internationally. Palestinians want the city to be capital of a future state.

Netanyahu's upbeat comments followed weeks of renewed efforts by President Barack Obama's peace envoy, George Mitchell, to get the sides back to the negotiating table, which had thus far turned up no results.