Barak says too early to declare Israel settlement freeze

By Daniel Bases

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday after talks with the U.S. Middle East envoy that it was too soon to say whether Israel would freeze West Bank settlements as demanded by President Barack Obama.

Barak said the talks with envoy George Mitchell, which lasted over four hours, were "positive" but that there are still "differences."

In a joint statement issued after their meeting, Barak and Mitchell said they had discussed the full range of issues related to Middle East peace and security. The statement said the discussions were constructive and would soon continue.

In a rare rift between Israel and the United States, Obama is pushing for a building freeze in a bid to spur the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Asked whether Israel would declare a temporary settlement building freeze, Barak said: "I think that it's a little bit too early to predict.

"We are considering every positive contribution Israel can make towards the taking off of a significant important peace effort," he said.

Barak said a meeting between Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was being arranged in the next one to three weeks. The two had planned a meeting in Paris last Thursday but it was put off by Israel, which said it needed more time to prepare.

Israel's biggest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday that Barak would propose a three-month halt to construction starts in settlements but allow current building work to continue.