U.S. envoy to press anew for Israel-Palestinian talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Mideast peace envoy will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday as the Obama administration presses both sides to launch direct talks as soon as possible.

The State Department said George Mitchell would spend one day addressing questions from both sides before returning to the United States on Wednesday.

"We think that what he needs to accomplish can be done with rather quick meetings with both of the leaders," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told a news briefing.

Crowley declined to speculate on the outcome of Mitchell's meetings, which come as the administration boosts pressure on both sides to launch direct peace negotiations by September.

"Based on a lot of work that's been done in recent days, Senator Mitchell will basically see if both sides are ready in fact to make the commitment to begin direct negotiations," Crowley said.

"We continue to think that this is the right time and that we have in fact appropriately paved the ground for successful direct negotiations. That will be his message to both leaders ... We'll see if we can get both leaders to yes," he said.

Netanyahu has already said he is ready to talk, leaving Abbas as the key hurdle to a U.S. diplomatic push that has failed to make much headway over the past 18 months despite the launch of U.S.-mediated indirect "proximity talks" in May.

Abbas says he has a promise from Washington that if he agrees to direct negotiations, Israel would prolong a partial moratorium on West Bank settlement building that is due to expire in September.

But he also wants to know in advance what shape and size of a future Palestinian state Israel is prepared to discuss in direct negotiations, and whether it is ready to quit the Jordan Valley and entrust security there to a third party.

The Palestinian leader's credibility has been eroded by the failure of past negotiations and he is under pressure from his Fatah party to avoid more direct talks with Israel that could be fruitless.

Israel's government says indirect talks are wasting time and has criticized Abbas for setting preconditions for direct talks aimed at ending the 62-year old Mideast conflict.

(Reporting by Andrew Quinn, editing by Alan Elsner)