by David Harris

    JERUSALEM, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell has decided to extend his stay in the region until the end of this week. The decision to remain was made following his Wednesday meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    Mitchell is reportedly visiting several Middle Eastern capitals over the next two days before another meeting with Netanyahu on Friday.

    The American is hoping he can broker a deal with Israel that will pave the way for a tripartite meeting in New York next week between Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, U.S. President Barack Obama and Netanyahu.

    The Mitchell team is trying to persuade Israel to agree to a freeze in settlement activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. So far, Netanyahu has only agreed to a partial cessation.

    Israel wants to build in the territories to allow for what it says is the "natural growth" of Jewish communities. Similarly, Netanyahu says it is Israel's right to build where it wants in Jerusalem, which Israel sees as its "indivisible capital."

    PALESTINIANS SAY MEETING UNLIKELY

    It is this Israeli stance which makes a tripartite meeting next week look very unlikely, former Palestinian minister and senior Fatah party member Qaddura Fares told Xinhua Wednesday.

    "If you are basing it on the two meetings Mr. Mitchell had with Netanyahu, the third and the last meeting on Friday will not achieve any real decision and I think there is no reason to accept a meeting," said Fares.

    Yet the very fact that Mitchell has decided to remain in the region does give some cause for optimism that the leaders will hold talks while in the U.S. for the opening of the 64th session of the UN General Assembly, according to Benny Miller, a professor of international relations at the University of Haifa in northern Israel.

    Miller cited reasons that he believes mean all three parties have something to gain by attending joint talks.

    Netanyahu needs to remain in Obama's good books, he argued, saying that "Netanyahu also knows that Israeli public opinion does not like it when relations with the U.S. take a turn for the worse."

    Meanwhile, Obama cannot afford to loose the warm relationship Washington enjoys with Israel, given all his policy problems at the moment at home. Many of his fellow Democrats are ardent supporters of Israel and right now he needs their wholehearted support in Congress.

    The Palestinians also realize that Obama is adopting a far more supportive line towards them than did his predecessor in the White House, George W. Bush. They know they need to seize the bull by the horns because currently they have the opportunity to gain something tangible.

    LEADERS' POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS COME INTO PLAY

    Miller does realize that these factors need to be balanced against internal political considerations. Netanyahu, for example, faces considerable opposition from his coalition partners and from members of his own Likud party to any major compromise towards the Palestinians.

    Similarly, the Palestinian street is very wary of jumping into bed with Netanyahu. Palestinian popular opinion says he represents a hawkish line that does not want to see a Palestinian state alongside Israel, despite his comments to the contrary.

    For months Israel has been placing conditions on any return to the negotiating table, according to Fares.

    "The Israeli government should decide to stop totally every element of settlements," he said, pointing out that this is not only a Palestinian demand but one that comes directly from the White House.

    Asked if that meant that the Palestinians want to see Israel begin dismantling settlements before there is a resumption of peace talks, Fares said "the extreme" nature of the current Israeli government precludes any such thoughts, particularly when it has not even been able to agree to a settlement freeze, let alone a reduction.

    "Eventually a compromise will be found, with a freeze of one sort or another, perhaps outside the major settlement blocs, for a specific time period. It just takes a bit of creativity," said Miller.

    THE ARAB ROLE

    The general feeling in Israel, among politicians and analysts, is that the Palestinians will compromise on the exact nature of a freeze. That could well be the reason Mitchell decided to visit Arab leaders over the next 48 hours.

    The Arab role, as Obama has pointed out on numerous occasions, is crucial in bringing both sides towards a final-status arrangement. Mitchell may well need the support of men like Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to persuade Abbas to compromise on the settlements issue.

    At the same time, Mitchell also wants the Arab world to convince Israel that the price of territorial compromise is one that is worth paying. Israel needs persuading that it will be rewarded with a lasting normalization of ties with the Arab world if it cedes from the territories it captured in the 1967 War.

    For now the official Arab response to this latter appeal has been muted. A couple of smaller Arab states have said they are prepared to up their ties with Israel in return for a total settlement freeze.

    However, Saudi Arabia, which is the originator of the 2002 Arab peace initiative, had said it is not prepared to reward Israel for what it should do merely to comply with international law. The Saudis say normalization should only come after comprehensive peace deals are arranged between Israel on the one hand and the Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese on the other.

    When Mitchell returns to Jerusalem on Friday it will be crunch time as far as next week's theoretical tripartite meeting is concerned. Then again, that is what the Israeli media said about the two Mitchell-Netanyahu talks already held this week.